This guide will discuss how you can find hospital negligence solicitors with experience handling claims similar to your own. If you have experienced unnecessary harm in a medical setting, you may be able to seek compensation. However, there are certain eligibility criteria that your claim must meet. We will discuss these further in our guide.
Medical professionals must ensure they uphold the duty of care they owe you. We will discuss the responsibilities they have as part of their duty of care in more detail throughout this guide.
This guide will also discuss how hospital negligence can occur, the harm you could sustain as a result and the steps you can take following an incident.
Furthermore, we will discuss how compensation is calculated and what you could receive following a successful claim.
Our advisors can offer support if you have further questions about anything discussed within this guide. Additionally, you can receive free legal advice about the claims process. To get in touch, you can:
- Call 0800 408 7827
- Contact us
- Use the live chat feature below.
Choose A Section
- How Do I Find The Best Hospital Negligence Solicitors?
- Examples Of Hospital Negligence
- What Is A Breach Of Duty In A Hospital?
- Compensation Payouts For A Negligence Claim
- Could I Use No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Solicitors?
- Learn More About Hospital Negligence Solicitors
How Do I Find The Best Hospital Negligence Solicitors?
Hospital negligence is a type of medical negligence. This involves a a medical professional failing to provide you with a minimum standard of care and causing you avoidable harm as a result.
If you can provide evidence that medical negligence has caused you harm, you may be able to seek compensation.
Hospital negligence solicitors can assist you when you sue a hospital for negligence by taking you through each stage of the claims process.
In order to find the best solicitor for you, you may find it beneficial to check reviews or ask for recommendations from friends. Alternatively, you can get in touch with our team about working with a solicitor from our panel. An advisor can provide guidance on the services they can offer.
The solicitors from our panel have experience handling claims of this nature and could help you to secure a settlement that is fair and relevant to your specific case.
It’s important to note that you don’t have to work with a solicitor in order to make a claim. However, legal representation can make the claims process easier and help you with multiple areas of your case.
To learn more, please get in touch with our team on the number above.
Statistics On Hospital Negligence
According to the NHS Resolution Annual Report Statistics 2021/22, there were a total of 13,070 settled claims. Additionally, the most common claims as per the speciality, there were:
- Emergency medicine: 1,209 claims settled
- Orthopaedic surgery: 1,232 claims settled
Examples Of Hospital Negligence
There are various ways in which medical negligence could occur in a hospital. Examples include:
- Medical misdiagnosis: You may be diagnosed with sprained ankle despite exhibiting clear signs of a fracture. As a result, you receive the wrong treatment, causing complications and further worsening your condition.
- Surgical errors: For example, a surgeon operates on the wrong part of your body or leaves a foreign object in your body, creating a high risk of developing infections. This is known as a never event.
- Poor hygiene: If cleaning standards aren’t upheld, you could develop a hospital-acquired infection.
- Delayed treatment: A doctor fails to recognise issues in scans and blood tests, causing a delay in treatment and diagnosis.
It’s important to note that not all instances of harm sustained in a hospital will form the basis of a valid claim. In order to seek compensation, you must demonstrate that a medical professional breached the duty of care they owed you and caused you to sustain unnecessary harm.
If you have a valid claim, an advisor could assign your case to one of the hospital negligence solicitors from our panel. Get in touch to learn more.
What Is A Breach Of Duty In A Hospital?
As mentioned, medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients. As part of this duty, they must provide you with a minimum standard of care.
The ways in which a medical professional is expected to uphold this duty of care will differ depending on their medical discipline. For example, the duties of a doctor are outlined by the General Medical Council whilst the duty of care for nurses and midwives is outlined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
To determine whether a medical professional provided the minimum standard of care, the Bolam test may be carried out. This involves a panel of relevantly trained medical professionals assessing your case. The findings from their assessment can be used as evidence to support your case.
Hospital negligence solicitors can help you understand the different stages of the claims process. Call to find out whether a solicitor from our panel could help you make a claim.
Compensation Payouts For A Negligence Claim
Hospital negligence payouts are often comprised of two heads:
- General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering you experienced due to the harm you experienced as a result of medical negligence. This covers both physical and psychological harm.
- Special damages compensate you for financial losses incurred due to the harm you experienced as a result of medical negligence. For instance, you could have lost income due to needing time off work while recovering. This loss of earnings could be claimed back under the special damages head of claim provided you have evidence, such as payslips.
Legal professionals, such as hospital negligence solicitors, can use the guideline compensation brackets shown in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them when they are valuing the general damages portion of claims.
We have provided figures from these guidelines in the table below. Please only use them as a guide.
| Type of Harm | Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Very Severe Brain Damage (a) | £282,010 - £403,990 | This bracket can include cases of quadriplegic cerebral palsy resulting in severe disabilities, both physical and cognitive. |
| Moderately Severe Brain Damage (b) | £219,070 - £282,010 | The person will have a very serious disability. This can include those that are physical, such as limb paralysis. |
| Kidney (a) | £169,400 - £210,400 | Both kidneys are seriously and permanently damaged or lost. |
| Kidney (b) | Up to £63,980 | There is a risk of a significant nature of urinary tract infections or other complete loss of natural kidney function. |
| Bowel (a) | Up to £184,200 | Cases involve a total loss of natural bowel function and urinary function and control with other combined medical complications. |
| Bowel (b) | Up to £150,110 | The loss of natural bowel function. There may be a dependence on a colostomy. |
| Chest (a) | £100,670 - £150,110 | One lung is completely removed and the heart is seriously damaged. This causes serious and ongoing pain and suffering with permanent significant scarring. |
| Bladder (b) | Up to £140,660 | A complete loss of function as well as control. |
| Spleen Injury (a) | £20,800 - £26,290 | Loss of the spleen creates a continuous risk of internal infection and disorders due to the immune system being damaged. |
| Spleen Injury (b) | £4,350 - £8,640 | The risks in the above bracket are not present or will be minimal. |
For more information on the medical negligence compensation you could receive following a successful claim, get in touch on the number above.
Could I Use No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Solicitors?
When working with hospital negligence solicitors, you may be interested doing so on a No Win No Fee basis. Solicitors from our panel who work on this basis may offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). With this type of arrangement, you don’t need to pay any fees for your solicitor’s services upfront, for the duration of your claim or if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim succeeds, your solicitor will take a small percentage of your compensation as a success fee. This fee has a legal cap.
Our advisors can connect you with a solicitor from our panel if your claim is valid and shows it has a chance of success. To get in touch, use the contact details we have provided below.
Talk To Our Advisors About Hospital Negligence Solicitors
If you’d like to speak to our advisors about anything discussed in this guide, you can use the details provided below. They can also help you understand whether the hospital negligence solicitors from our panel could take on your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
To get in touch, you can:
- Call 0800 408 7827
- Use our contact form
- Speak to an advisor through the live chat.
Learn More About Hospital Negligence Solicitors
You can find more of our guides here.
- GP and doctor negligence claims
- Care home medical negligence claims
- Medication dosage error – Can I claim compensation?
We’ve also included some resources below to assist you with your claim.
- Care Quality Commission – Report a concern
- GOV – NHS Constitution For England
- GOV – Statutory Sick Pay
We hope this guide on how to find hospital negligence solicitors for your case has helped. If you have any other questions, get in touch on the number above.
Guide by AA
Editor NM