NHS Medical Negligence Claims

If we believe your medical negligence claim has a good chance of success, we will consider various methods to fund your claim.

We believe that finances shouldn’t hold you back from getting the compensation you deserve. That’s why the majority of our cases are taken on a No Win No Fee basis through what’s called a Conditional Fee Agreement.

This means that you will only have to pay for our services in the event your NHS negligence claim is successful. If we don’t win your case, you don’t pay a penny.

We would all agree that the NHS is a tremendous force for good. So, the idea of pursuing a negligence claim can feel unsettling and uncomfortable. However, there are valid reasons for claiming against the NHS that include:

Getting recognition for your pain and suffering: As well as the long-term effect it will have on your life, any illness or injury caused by negligent treatment can lead to financial issues in the form of lost earnings, treatment costs or changes you must make to your home.

Try to make sure the same doesn’t happen to anyone else: If your suffering is the result of incorrect practices and procedures, suing the NHS for negligence can help bring about changes in the way things are done. Hopefully, that means no one else goes through the same experience.

Get in touch for an initial consultation when you’re ready to consider making an NHS negligence compensation claim.

A successful NHS negligence claim must show the professional who cared for or treated you failed to act as a competent medical professional would have in the same situation.

Our NHS medical negligence solicitors also need to prove that action or inaction was a direct cause of your avoidable pain and suffering. This can be challenging in cases when you or a loved one had a pre-existing condition, as we must prove that the negligence made the situation worse. We’ll do this by:

• Seeking expert medical opinions to prove the negligent actions or inactions of the NHS caused avoidable suffering
• Looking at the NHS standard of care you should receive and comparing it to what occurred. We use a panel of expert medical professionals to take an in-depth look at how a practitioner responsible for your care may have made mistakes that caused damage or injury to you or a loved one

In the NHS, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) exists to offer support and advice to patients on health-related matters. You can access PALS through all NHS trusts for help with a range of issues – including any complaints of poor care and NHS malpractice.

The PALS procedure

PALS will take several steps to ensure your complaint is taken seriously. These include:

A member of PALS will try to help resolve your complaint informally first.

This includes keeping you up to date with proceedings, issuing an apology and ultimately ensuring such a lapse does not happen again. PALS can be especially helpful in cases where urgent action is needed.

PALS can make recommendations to medical professionals on how they can improve their skills or patient care.

Although PALS can make suggestions for treatment moving forward, the complaints procedure charter does not allow a medical professional to be disciplined or dismissed.

PALS will consider the processes in place for providing care and treatment.

If poor practice is identified (e.g. a lack of equipment or inadequate training) that contributes to the medical professional’s mistake, PALS may intervene and recommend how the problems can be avoided.

In some instances, PALS uncovers fundamental errors in NHS practices which can lead to wider investigations. In turn, these investigations can also lead to a medical professional going before their regulatory body – such as the General Medical Council – for breach of conduct.

However, it’s important to note that PALS does not usually offer compensation, so it won’t be able to compensate you for any loss of earnings, for example, because of NHS negligence. However, they can seek to ensure it doesn’t happen to anybody else.

While PALS can help with your complaint, it does not award compensation. You may wish to pursue a complaint first, as more issues can be covered as part of a complaint and you do not need to satisfy the legal test for establishing a clinical negligence claim. However, you should keep in mind the time limits for pursuing a claim. Complaint investigations can take some time and, if the process does not resolve your concerns, you may then be out of time to bring a claim.

You have up to three years from the time the negligence occurred, or you became aware your treatment was negligent, to bring a claim forward. However, we recommend you start an NHS compensation claim as soon as possible for the strongest chance of success.

There are scenarios where the time limit can be extended. For children, there are different medical negligence time frames when suing the NHS. The three-year limitation period only starts when the child reaches their 18th birthday.

You may also be able to claim on behalf of an adult if they cannot do so themselves under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Unsure about your options? Call 0800 234 3234 or contact us and we will be happy to offer a helping hand.

We know the process of going to court and reliving the trauma of an injury can put people off getting the compensation they deserve.

The good news is that it is rare for an NHS negligence claim to go to court. Indeed, according to data for 2022-23, 80% of NHS clinical claims were resolved without the need for any legal action. And data for 2020-21 shows just 0.3% of all NHS claims ended up in court.

No matter what course your NHS claim takes, our medical negligence solicitors will guide you every step of the way.

Depending on the unique circumstances of your case, settlement amounts can vary.

The amount of NHS negligence compensation you could receive will depend on a variety of factors. In the first instance, the amount will take into account your pain and suffering. But it also looks at the impact it has had on your life – such as extra transport costs, care needs or lost earnings.