No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claims
No-win, No-fee claims
If you’ve been injured in an accident that occurred because someone who had a duty of care towards you breached this duty, you may be able to claim compensation for your suffering.
Excellent Reviews On
NHS Negligence Claims And Compensation
100% No Win No Fee
If you’ve suffered harm or injury at the hands of a medical professional in the National Health Service, you may be able to make a medical negligence claim if you satisfy certain eligibility criteria.
Excellent Reviews On
As featured in:
Sadly, sometimes, when we receive treatment from NHS healthcare providers, mistakes happen. No doctor or medical worker is infallible despite all their years of training and industry safeguards to keep patients safe.
Every NHS health professional owes the people they treat a duty of care. This is a legal obligation that means healthcare professionals must meet a minimum expected standard of care when providing treatment. If harm or injuries that could otherwise be avoided had this duty been adhered to occur, then this is sometimes referred to as clinical negligence or medical malpractice.
NHS negligence claims can involve anything from prescribing the wrong treatment to misdiagnosing an illness or disease. It can include a mistake in the operating theatre to a simple miscalculation of a drug dosage.
NHS compensation claims can be brought against NHS doctors and all sorts of medical professionals providing medical care within an NHS Trust, including nurses, midwives, and other support workers.
Claiming compensation can seem like a big step, but doing so could help address these situations and redress mistakes as far as possible in monetary terms.
Read on to find everything you need to know about making a claim against the NHS, including what’s involved during the process and how lawyers calculate compensation for medical negligence claims.
We’ll set out exactly what an NHS negligence claim is and how you can start the ball rolling with our No Win No Fee solicitors.
If you think you’re entitled to claim compensation and want to talk through an NHS claim, then call our advisors on the number at the top of this page. You can also message us via our live chat service if you prefer.
Our advice is completely free, so there are no costs if you decide not to proceed or if you go ahead and your claim is unsuccessful. We provide access to specialist medical negligence solicitors who will quickly assess your case and can confirm whether you have the basis for an NHS compensation claim.
What Is An NHS Medical Negligence Claim?
In simple terms, medical negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to provide an appropriate level of care, which means a patient suffers avoidable harm as a result. Numerous causes exist, including systemic failures, individual carelessness, mistakes, or just a simple oversight.
In order to consider bringing an NHS negligence claim, you must have suffered unnecessary harm as a result of a breach of duty of care while undergoing NHS treatment. This could be an injury or the prolonging or worsening of an existing condition. Sadly, in some cases, this can mean death.
NHS medical negligence claims fall within civil law in England and Wales. Medical accidents are similar to road traffic accidents and injuries caused in the workplace in terms of the legal avenues available when seeking compensation.
However, claiming NHS compensation is a specialist area requiring in-depth knowledge of both medicine and law so it’s essential to find the right legal representation to progress your case.
Key Facts About NHS Negligence Claims
Every case is unique, and the different forms an NHS negligence claim can take are too numerous to mention here, but these are some of the key examples.
- Errors on medical records leading to wrong treatment or inappropriate medication.
- Substandard medical care for a new or existing injury, health condition or disease.
- Treating an injury or illness incorrectly, which causes pain and suffering, prolongs a health condition or leads to the development of something more serious.
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose either correctly or within a reasonable timeframe.
- Medical mistakes such as prescribing the wrong medication or wrong site surgery.
Medical negligence claims against the NHS can be brought due to the error or omission of one individual, a team of people or systemic failures within NHS trusts.
Why use us?
Free Consultation
We offer a free consultation to anyone looking to make a claim
No win, no fee
Claim experts
We use solicitors who have handled thousands of claims
How Does The Claims Process Against The NHS Work?
NHS negligence claims are like any other type of medical negligence claim. Once you have instructed a solicitor, they will require evidence from you about your injury or the harm you suffered and the circumstances leading up to it.
The first thing your solicitor will need to do is establish that you have a valid basis to make an NHS compensation claim. This includes making sure your case is not time-barred under legislation. You have three years from the date of the event or incident to claim compensation.
Once your solicitor is satisfied that you have a valid compensation claim, they will get to work compiling all the relevant evidence to support your case for negligent treatment. You will need to provide evidence relating to your claim, including medical records, witness contact details so they can give a statement, and a detailed account of what happened.
To support an NHS negligence claim, your solicitor might need the clinical opinion of an independent medical professional to verify that you have received wrong or substandard treatment in order to prove liability.
Once the case has been prepared, we will contact the NHS Trust or NHS professional responsible with a detailed account of your claim and the compensation you require. If the NHS admits liability, then the case should be settled within months.
How Much Compensation Could You Receive?
Every medical negligence claim is different, so there’s no such thing as an average payout. When it comes to calculating compensation, the legal professionals, the courts or whoever is responsible for valuing a claim may use a framework called The Judicial College Guidelines.
These guidelines set out a range of values for different injuries. Here are some examples.
- If the claimant sustained multiple injuries or illnesses and can prove their lost financial resources as a result of this harm, they could receive up to £750,000 or more(this figure is not from the Judicial College Guidelines).
- Paraplegia, such as from surgical errors, could result in a payout between £267,340 to £346,890.
- A delayed diagnosis of a leg fracture which extends into the knee joint, causing constant pain, limiting movement and leading to a risk of osteoarthritis in later life, could result in compensation of between £85,100 and £117,410.
- If the harmed party suffers moderate brain damage, such as due to the failure to diagnose meningitis and this damage causes concentration and memory problems, with a small epilepsy risk and effect on the senses, they may be awarded between £52,550 to £110,720.
- An avoidable birth injury to the mother may lead to faecal urgency and passive incontinence that persists after surgery. This could be compensated in the region of £97,530.
- Psychological harm caused by clinical negligence, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that is classified as moderately severe, could receive an award of between £28,250 and £73,050.
- An allergic reaction in response to medication or other form of treatment resulting in several days or weeks in hospital and symptoms which have a significant impact on the ability to enjoy life and return to work, including continuing incontinence and haemorrhoids, could be awarded compensation amounts of between £46,900 to £64,070.
Inadequate supervision in a care facility leading to a severe shoulder injury after a fall can receive a compensation award ranging from £23,430 and £58,610.
Compensation Bracket: 0.00
Who Pays Compensation In NHS Negligence Claims?
NHS negligence compensation is paid by NHS Resolution. NHS Resolution aims to resolve patient concerns and disputes fairly and also share learning for improvement and development.
Are There Other Forms Of Compensation In NHS Negligence Claims?
Compensation in successful negligence claims against the NHS consists of a financial sum reflecting the pain and suffering caused (including psychological harm) by clinical mistakes and medical errors. However, you can also recover money for out of pocket expenses such as fees for private medical costs if you’re undergoing treatment because of the negligence, the cost of travel to and from hospital appointments if you can’t drive and, loss of income due to time off work.
This element of a compensation claim is called special damages. The money you receive for your pain and suffering is called general damages. You’ll need documentary evidence of your out of pocket expenses, such as travel receipts and invoices for private medical treatment. You’ll also need to be able to demonstrate loss of earnings using bank statements or your salary records.
Why Make An NHS Medical Negligence Claim?
The NHS is a very special organisation to most of us. We all know how hard NHS professionals work and how difficult funding is for medical services in the current economic climate. So, if you’re reluctant to start a medical negligence claim, then that is completely understandable.
It can seem hard to bring an NHS complaint against someone who was only trying to help you and who made a genuine mistake. However, all healthcare professionals know that mistakes are part of medical practice and an opportunity for improvement, something NHS Resolution is very clear about on its website.
Compensation claims are paid by NHS Resolution and won’t come out of your local NHS budget.
Another reason why people are often reluctant to make a claim is the sheer complexity of the situation; both law and medicine are complicated and specialist areas. Our legal team is skilled in NHS negligence cases and will manage all aspects of the claims process on your behalf.
At the end of the day, making a medical negligence claim is the same as taking action against another motorist who caused injury to you in a road accident or your employer who has failed to ensure a workplace free from harm.
After negligent treatment, you could have tangible difficulties in your life, preventing your ability to work and increasing your living costs. You are entitled to receive compensation for these, so you benefit financially and return, as far as possible, to the position you were in before the negligent care. You may also be entitled to receive compensation for your ongoing care needs.
One of our solicitors can also help by arranging private medical care or treatment, the cost of which will be covered by your NHS claim. It means you can avoid waiting lists and get yourself back on the road to recovery as soon as possible.
It’s commonplace to worry about your legal costs, particularly when NHS trusts won’t admit liability, so your case ends up in court. Our solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that you’ll only pay a legally limited success fee if your case is successful. The charges are deducted from your compensation award.
How No Win No Fee Solicitors Co Can Help You Claim Medical Negligence Compensation
If you want to make a successful claim against an NHS organisation for clinical negligence or medical errors, then it’s vital to work with experienced medical negligence solicitors.
Our expert No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors are a skilled team that has handled thousands of claims against the NHS and a long record of successful compensation claims.
They offer their services via a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is one way of offering their services on a No Win No Fee basis. There is no financial risk to you as you’ll only pay costs if you win. For us, it means we can offer our legal services to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay costly upfront and ongoing fees.
If you’d like to check if you can make an NHS compensation claim, call us on the number above, write to us here, or message us now via our live chat box. We’re always happy to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
I consulted an NHS doctor at a private hospital. Is this an NHS claim?
Can I still receive care and treatment after making a claim against the NHS?
This is a valid concern for many people and can be sufficiently off-putting to stop claimants altogether. However, you are still entitled to NHS care even after making a claim. You are free to change your healthcare provider if you feel uncomfortable about receiving care from that person or organisation. Your solicitor will be able to advise you on how this works.
