The questions people ask first, answered plainly.

Payout examples →

UK medical negligence payout examples by claim type, typical compensation ranges, and what decides the amount. Then check your own claim free.

Fatal negligence payouts →

What compensation after a death caused by medical negligence can include: the bereavement award, dependency, funeral costs and the estate's claim.

Time limits →

The 3-year time limit for medical negligence claims, the date-of-knowledge rule, and the exceptions for children, mental capacity and fatal claims.

How long claims take →

How long medical negligence claims really take, stage by stage, using official NHS Resolution timing data — and what slows a claim down.

Can you sue the NHS? →

Yes — you can claim against the NHS for negligent care. What you have to show, claim vs complaint, time limits, costs, and what compensation covers.

Why claims fail →

Eleven real judgments where the claim failed, and what each one teaches about proving breach of duty, causation and loss in a medical negligence claim.

How big awards are built →

How a multi-million medical negligence award is assembled: general damages, care, accommodation, prosthetics, lost earnings and lost years. Real judgments.

Periodical payments →

How periodical payment orders work: a lump sum plus index-linked yearly payments for life, stepped payments, and why headline totals differ. Real settlements.

Settlement approval →

Why a settlement for a child or protected party must be approved by a judge, what the judge checks, and what public approval judgments reveal about real sums.

Consent claims →

Informed consent claims since Montgomery: material risks, reasonable alternatives, consent as an ongoing process, and why documented consent defeats claims.

Antibiotic delay claims →

How courts judge delays in giving antibiotics for sepsis and meningitis: the causation battle, material contribution, and admissions of liability.

Cauda equina claims →

Red flags, safety-netting questions and scan interpretation in cauda equina claims, and why agreed damages are worth nothing without proof of breach.

Compartment syndrome →

How compartment syndrome claims work, what courts award after an amputation, and when a later amputation is not blamed on the negligence. Real judgments.

Shoulder dystocia →

Shoulder dystocia claims explained: brachial plexus and brain injury, why care is judged by the standards of the year of birth, and the consent case it produced.

Newborn brain injury →

How brain injury claims arise from the first days of life and from delays in labour: blood sugar monitoring, fetal heart monitoring, and delivery timed in minutes.

Sent home from A&E →

A&E discharge claims: the duty that starts at the reception desk, missed warning signs, and the causation hurdle that decides most cases. Real judgments.

GP failure to refer →

How GP negligence claims work when symptoms are dismissed or a referral is not made: red flags, examination, scope of duty, and why some claims fail.

Lost years damages →

What lost years damages are, the old rule that barred them for young children, and what the Supreme Court changed in 2026. Who the decision affects and by how much.

Family psychiatric injury →

Why relatives who witness a death caused by negligence usually cannot claim as secondary victims after the 2024 Supreme Court decision, and what families can claim.

How dependency works →

The four parts of a fatal medical negligence claim, how dependency is calculated from income and services, and the settlement trap that can bar a family's claim.

Stroke claims →

Seven published judgments where a stroke, mini-stroke or its cause was missed or not treated. Five failed. What separated the two that succeeded.

Brain bleed not scanned →

Five judgments on head injuries and brain bleeds where a CT scan was delayed or never done. Two claimants won. What the courts asked about the delay.

Injured during surgery →

Ten published judgments on injuries caused during surgery: nerves, bile ducts, bowel, perforations and anaesthetics. Four won, six lost. What made the difference.

CTG and delayed delivery →

Ten published judgments on heart-rate monitoring, delayed caesareans and delivery decisions in labour. Eight succeeded, several for more than £5 million.

Results not acted on →

Ten published judgments where a scan, swab, blood test or biopsy result was missed, misfiled or never told to the patient. Seven succeeded.

Deterioration on the ward →

Nine published judgments on patients who deteriorated in hospital: leaks after surgery, sepsis, compartment syndrome and observations not escalated. Six succeeded.

Bowel and bariatric surgery →

Nine published judgments on gastric bypass, sleeve, band, bowel resection, gallbladder and ERCP complications. Four succeeded. Where the line falls.

Limb ischaemia claims →

Eight published judgments where poor circulation to a limb was missed or treated late and the limb was lost or damaged. Five succeeded, one at £4.68 million.

Spinal cord injury →

Ten published judgments on paralysis and nerve damage from unstable fractures, missed disc problems, spinal surgery and epidurals. Six succeeded.

Delayed cancer diagnosis →

Seven published judgments on breast, skin, ovarian, lung and gastrointestinal cancers diagnosed late. Six succeeded, but the sums show how damages really work.

Child sent home →

Six published judgments on children discharged or reassured with meningitis, sepsis, asthma or infection. Four succeeded, one at £9.3 million.

Medication errors →

Five published judgments on drugs given wrongly, too soon, or not at all: anticoagulants, vitamins, antibiotics and preventive drugs. Three succeeded.

Private hospital claims →

Eight published judgments against private hospitals and consultants: HCA, Ramsay, Spire, Harley Street and independent clinics. Six succeeded.

Out-of-hours GP claims →

Nine published judgments on out-of-hours GPs, walk-in centres and home visits, mostly involving sick children. Two succeeded. Why the rest failed.

Antenatal screening claims →

Seven published judgments where a pregnancy scan, screening test or genetic test was missed, misread or never offered. Six succeeded, one in the Supreme Court.

Blood clot claims →

Eight published judgments on pulmonary embolism, DVT, stroke-causing clots and blood thinners not given. Four succeeded. What separated them.

Maternity & gynae injury →

Six published judgments on harm to the mother or patient herself: retained placenta, untreated infection, stillbirth trauma, unjustified surgery. Four succeeded.

Severe infection missed →

Seven published judgments on necrotising fasciitis, abscesses and post-operative infections that were missed or treated late. Three succeeded. Why four failed.

Baby hip checks →

Five published judgments where a baby's hip problem was missed at newborn or GP checks, on X-ray or by a late scan. Four succeeded, one at £811,247.

Heart attack missed →

Eight published judgments on chest pain and heart disease missed by A&E, GPs, clinics and paramedics. Six succeeded, with sums from £50,000 to £340,000.

Ambulance & 999 claims →

Six published judgments against ambulance services: crews who left patients at home, delays that caused harm, and treatment that fell short. Four succeeded.

Falls and basic care →

Six published judgments on falls, pressure sores and nursing care in hospital. Three succeeded. Why these claims are harder than they look.

The evidence that decides →

Eleven judgments showing what wins and loses these cases: the notes, the charts, the missing letter and the expert. Read this before you ask for your records.

Inquests explained →

An inquest cannot find anyone negligent. The law forbids it. What it can do is establish facts on oath, and that is often where a claim begins.

Late claims →

Seven judgments on claims brought years after the deadline. Six were allowed to proceed, one from a birth 32 years earlier. What separated them from the one refused.

Duty of candour →

By law a hospital must tell you in person, give you the facts, apologise and put it in writing. Here is exactly what you are owed, and what an apology does not mean.

Getting your records →

You have a legal right to your records, normally within a month and free. The NHS only has to keep adult records for eight years, which is the reason not to wait.

Fracture claims →

Six published judgments on fractures missed on X-ray, misjudged as stable, or treated too late. What separates a bad outcome from a claim.

Endoscopy complications →

Perforation, pancreatitis or sepsis after a scope or keyhole procedure: when a known risk becomes a claim, and when it does not. Seven real judgments explained.

Gallbladder surgery claims →

A bile duct injured during keyhole gallbladder removal, a bile leak missed afterwards, or gallstones left untreated: what the judgments require a claim to show.

Missed appendicitis →

Sent home with a stomach bug and back with a ruptured appendix, or peritonitis that nobody recognised: what seven judgments say a claim has to prove.

Anaesthetic error claims →

An epidural that pierced the spinal cord, a cardiac arrest under spinal anaesthetic, a ten-hour operation with lasting damage: what the courts decided and why.

Died after being sent home →

A discharge from A&E, a GP visit or a paramedic's decision that ended in a death: what four families proved, why three claims failed, how fatal claims are built.

Lost referrals →

The referral letter that was lost, the X-ray you were never told about, the follow-up nobody booked: how courts treat administrative failures, in eight judgments.

Blood thinner claims →

Anticoagulants not started, a dose missed, stopped too soon or given too early: the strokes, clots and bleeds that followed, and how six courts decided.

Breathing problems missed →

A man in respiratory failure discharged from A&E, a chest X-ray never mentioned, a child with severe asthma sent home: five judgments and what they required.

NHS payout data →

Official NHS Resolution figures for 2024/25, band by band.