Clinical Negligence
When healthcare providers fail to meet the expected standard of care, causing patient harm through surgical errors, misdiagnosis, or treatment mistakes.
£25,000 – £2,000,000
Typical compensation range
3 years
Limitation period
Choose your claim type
Types of Clinical Negligence Claims
Select the type that best describes your situation for a more accurate assessment.
Surgical Errors
Wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, nerve damage, and other surgical mistakes causing patient harm.
Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis
Missed or delayed diagnosis of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and other serious conditions leading to worse outcomes.
GP Negligence
Negligent treatment by general practitioners including failure to refer, prescribing errors, and missed symptoms in primary care.
Dental Negligence
Botched dental treatments, nerve damage from procedures, unnecessary extractions, and infections from poor dental care.
Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
Negligent cosmetic procedures including botched breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, liposuction, and non-surgical treatments.
Mental Health Negligence
Negligent psychiatric care, wrongful detention under the Mental Health Act, and failures in mental health crisis support.
About Clinical Negligence Claims
Clinical negligence (also called medical negligence) occurs when a healthcare provider — doctor, surgeon, nurse, or NHS trust — falls below the accepted standard of care, causing injury or death to a patient. Under the Bolam test, a doctor is not negligent if they acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical opinion.
Key elements of a clinical negligence claim include establishing that a duty of care existed, the provider breached that duty, the breach directly caused injury (causation), and the injury led to specific losses such as medical costs, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering.
Common types include surgical errors (wrong-site surgery, retained instruments), diagnostic failures (missed cancer, delayed heart attack diagnosis), medication errors, anaesthesia complications, and failures in post-operative care. The limitation period is generally 3 years from the date of injury or the date of knowledge.
The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS Resolution) handles claims against NHS bodies. The average clinical negligence claim payment is approximately £50,000, though cases involving permanent injury or death regularly exceed £1 million. Cerebral palsy cases resulting from birth injuries have produced awards exceeding £20 million.
Typical Compensation Range
Based on reported settlements and court awards. Individual case values vary significantly.
Limitation Period
3 years
May vary by jurisdiction. Don't wait — time limits apply.