You may want to know more about hospital negligence cases because you’ve been the victim of medical negligence. This guide will provide examples of potential medical negligence cases in the UK to give you a better understanding of whether you can claim compensation.
Additionally, it will explain under what circumstances you could potentially make a claim and the benefits of using a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
If you have any questions about suing a hospital for medical negligence, you can contact our team of advisors for free legal advice. They’re available 24/7 and can tell you if you’re eligible to claim, as well as provide you with a compensation estimate. Furthermore, they can also put you through to a solicitor from our panel who can build your case.
However, please remember that you’re under no obligation to use our services to claim should you contact us. Contact us at a time that works for you using the below details.
- Call us on the above phone number.
- Claim online through our website.
- Use the Live Chat window that is now on your screen.
Please read on to learn more about medical negligence cases payouts and under what instances you may be able to make claims for medical negligence.
Select A Section:
- What Are Hospital Negligence Cases?
- Criteria For Proving Medical Negligence Claims
- Typical Examples Of Hospital Negligence Cases
- What Evidence Could Support A Clinical Negligence Case?
- Compensation Payouts For Hospital Negligence
- Using No Win No Fee Solicitors For Hospital Negligence Cases
What Are Hospital Negligence Cases?
Hospital negligence cases are based on proving that your injury has been caused or exacerbated by negligence. This guide will explain what is meant by negligence and provide examples of this to give you a better understanding of your situation.
It’s important to remember that the onus is on you, as the person claiming, to prove that your injury was caused by negligence. Therefore, we will also explain the types of evidence you may need to receive compensation.
The amount of compensation you could receive is based on many factors, including the severity of your injuries and whether you’ve suffered any permanent damage. To learn more about this, please contact our team. They can tell if you if you’re able to claim and connect you to a solicitor who could present your compensation claim. Contact us using the above details.
Criteria For Proving Medical Negligence Claims
Successful hospital negligence cases are based on proving that the treatment you’ve received from medical professionals was not to an acceptable standard. Every medical professional, whether a nurse, GP, practitioner or doctor, has a minimum standard of care they need to provide to all of their patients.
For medical professionals who work within the NHS, this duty of care is detailed in The National Health Service (Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice) Regulations 2019. All doctors in the UK have to register with the General Medical Council. To register, they need to agree to treat every patient with skills that equate to good medical practice.
So, the backbone of clinical negligence cases is proving that the treatment provided by the relevant medical professionals was below the required standard of care. It’s important to remember that you claim against the specific NHS trust or another healthcare provider that caused or worsened your injury through negligence.
However, it isn’t just non-fatal injuries you could claim for. You can also sue a hospital for wrongful death if you have evidence that shows that a loved one died because of medical negligence.
Furthermore, you need to also consider the time limit you have to claim within. To make compensation claims for medical negligence, you usually need to claim within either three years of the injury or three years from the date you became aware that negligence caused your injury. For England and Wales, this time limit is clarified in the Limitation Act 1980.
Typical Examples Of Hospital Negligence Cases
Examples of incidents that could result in successful hospital negligence cases include:
- Misdiagnosis – This could be from a doctor misreading a scan or not correctly evaluating all of your symptoms due to negligence.
- Prescription or medication errors – This could result in your condition worsening due to, for example, medication being mislabelled.
- Hospital-acquired infections – This could be because an infection wasn’t sufficiently contained or treated once identified due to negligence.
- Treatment delays – This could be because you’ve been moved to the wrong department or the correct scan has not been performed through negligence.
- Surgical errors – This could include birth injuries caused by a lack of standard care or attention during the procedure.
Above are just some of the cases of hospital negligence you may have experienced. Other examples of medical negligence can be seen below.
Never Events Caused By Hospital Negligence
Never events are events that, because appropriate protocols are in place, should never occur. These rare incidents can negatively impact a patient in a severe, life-changing way. In some instances, they could result in you suing a hospital for wrongful death.
Examples of never events include:
- The wrong body part being amputated in surgery.
- A foreign object accidentally being left in someone’s body during surgery.
- A patient overdosing on insulin because of a medical professional’s failure to use a specific insulin administration device.
Hospital negligence cases revolving around never events can have some of the largest compensation payouts because of the severity of the incident. As the below section highlights, evidence is crucial for any claim to be successful.
What Evidence Could Support A Clinical Negligence Case?
Evidence is vital in hospital negligence cases because you need to prove that negligence caused or worsened your condition. Ultimately, it can be very difficult to prove negligence without evidence because the case would revolve around one person’s word against another.
Evidence you could use includes:
- Medical scans and notes
- Photographic evidence of your injury
- Witness statements
- A list of the treatments and medication you’ve taken for the injury
Medical negligence lawsuit cases are determined largely by the amount of evidence and its validity. The Bolam Test is conducted by peers of the medical professional in question to assess their actions. In doing this, they use evidence to analyse whether the medical professional’s actions go below the minimum standard of care.
You will only receive compensation for hospital negligence if they conclude that the professional’s actions went below this standard.
Statistics On Hospital Negligence
Every year, the NHS provides statistics illustrating the level of care they provide across the UK. As part of this, they confirm the number of clinical claims and incidents complained about or reported to them. As you can see, in 2020/21, there were 12,629 new incidents reported within that time period. Across the five years, 56,345 new clinical claims and incidents were reported within the NHS.
However, there are limitations to this data. We don’t know how many of these claims were successful and ultimately led to payouts for hospital medical negligence. Please contact our team for free legal advice to learn more about claiming. We can tell you if you’re eligible to claim and can even provide you with an estimate for what you could receive when making a claim against a hospital. Contact us using the above details.
Compensation Payouts For Hospital Negligence
When making hospital negligence cases, you could receive two potential types of compensation. General damages relate to the general pain and suffering caused by the injury. This accounts for any physical and psychological symptoms resulting from it. For example, you could suffer depression because you were provided with the wrong treatment, which worsened your condition.
The Judicial College provides you with a clearer understanding of the medical negligence case value. They analyse previous general damages payouts, comparing them to the extent and nature of the injury. Therefore, they’ve created compensation brackets as you can see below.
| Injury Type | Severity | Compensation Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back | Moderate (i) | £26,050 to £36,390 | Injuries in this bracket include a prolapsed invertebral disc that requires surgery and compression/crush fracture of the lumbar vertebrae. |
| Neck | Moderate (ii) | £12,900 to £23,460 | Cases in this bracket include severe disc lesions leading to cervical spondylosis, serious movement limitation and stiffness or discomfort. |
| Eye | Minor | £3,710 to £8,200 | Minor eye injuries in this bracket include exposure to fumes, such as smoke, or being struck in the eye. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderately Severe | £21,730 to £56,180 | The effects of this will still cause significant disability for the foreseeable future. However, in this bracket, there will be a better prognosis due to professional help. |
| Brain | Moderate (ii) | £85,150 to £140,870 | Cases in this bracket lead to health issues like a moderate to modest intellectual deficit with the ability to work being greatly reduced if not entirely removed. |
| Foot | Serious | £23,460 to £36,790 | This bracket involves foot injuries that cause continuing pain from traumatic arthritis or the risk of it occurring in the future, as well as prolonged treatment with fusion surgery potentially being needed. |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | Severe | £51,460 to £108,620 | Cases in this bracket are for when the injured person has marked problems with aspects of life, such as work, education, socialising. As such, it can deeply affect relationships with family and friends and the prognosis will be very poor. |
| Chest | N/A | £11,820 to £16,860 | This bracket is for a relatively simple chest injury, such as a single penetrating wound, causing some permanent tissue damage. However, there is no significant long-term effects to lung function. |
| Reproductive System: Male | Sterility | £22,230 to £29,380 | This bracket is for an uncomplicated sterility case involving a family man who may have intended to have more children. |
| Shoulder | Minor | Up to £2,300 | Injuries in this bracket lead to a soft tissue injury to the shoulder with considerable pain with almost a complete recovery made within three months. |
However, please remember that these figures are only designed to provide awareness about what you could receive. We cannot guarantee that you’ll receive the figures above for the relevant injury as every case is assessed independently. Furthermore, hospital negligence cases payouts in the UK can also be affected by special damages.
Calculating Special Damages For Hospital Negligence Cases
Compensation for special damages relates to the financial losses you’ve suffered due to the injury. This can include:
- Travel costs
- Loss of earnings
- Private healthcare costs (if the NHS couldn’t cover them)
- Loss of future earnings
- Adjustments required to your home
To potentially receive special damages compensation, you would need to also receive general damages from the same incident. This is because if you don’t receive general damages, it means that the third party in question has not been deemed liable for your injuries.
Additionally, you would need to provide evidence such as receipts, invoices and bank statements to prove the value of the losses.
Making A Care Claim
You can also make a care claim when seeking special damages compensation if hospital medical negligence has led to you being unable to look after yourself. For instance, you may have suffered severe leg damage, which has affected your ability to walk. As part of claiming for special damages, you can make a care claim if you need either temporary or permanent care from a medical professional.
To learn more about this, please contact our team for legal advice that’s completely free. You can contact them 24/7 using the above details.
Using No Win No Fee Solicitors For Hospital Negligence Cases
You may be unaware of the benefits of using a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel when making hospital negligence cases. They include:
- Not paying any hidden costs or fees. Your solicitor will clarify all potential claims costs before using their services.
- Not paying their fee either upfront or throughout the hospital negligence claims process.
- Only paying their fee at the end of the claim. The solicitor takes a small, legally capped compensation amount to cover their work.
Work With Our Panel Of Solicitors To Make A Hospital Negligence Claim
If you have any queries about hospital negligence cases, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our advisors offer free guidance, are available 24/7 and can tell you if you’re eligible for compensation in just one phone call. Furthermore, they can also connect you to an experienced, knowledgeable solicitor from our panel who is specialised in dealing with these types of claims.
They can work with you using a No Win No Fee agreement and will only take your case if they feel you have a reasonably good chance of success. Contact us using the below details at a time that works for you.
- Call us on the above phone number.
- Claim online using our website.
- Tell us your query using the Live Chat window.
Extra Resources About Hospital Negligence Cases
Please use the links below to learn more about clinical negligence cases.
Go onto the NHS website to learn how to make a complaint.
Please refer to this guide if you’ve suffered a broken bone and would like medical guidance.
The NHS also provides advice for claimants who are considering claiming for medical negligence.
Please read this article on our website to learn about care home negligence claims.
You may be able to make an orthopaedic negligence claim. Click on this article for more information.
Would you like to know more about making a claim? If so, please refer to this article.
If you have further questions or queries about hospital negligence cases, please contact our team for free legal advice using the details above.
