If you are searching for answers to the question ‘Can you sue the NHS for medical negligence?’, the expert team at Simper Law is on hand to help.
The short answer is yes, you can sue the NHS for medical negligence. However, whether your specific circumstances give rise to a valid claim depends on a variety of factors unique to your case.
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What Is The Legal Test?
To bring a successful medical negligence claim against the NHS, three elements must be established. First, the NHS or one of its healthcare professionals must have owed you a duty of care. This is almost always satisfied the moment you become a patient; whether you are seeing a GP, attending A&E, or receiving inpatient treatment, a duty of care exists automatically.
Second, that duty must have been breached. A breach occurs when the standard of care falls below what would be expected of a reasonably competent healthcare professional working in the same field. Broadly, if a responsible body of medical opinion would not have approved the way you were treated, a breach is established.
Third, the breach must have directly caused you avoidable harm. This is called causation, and it is often the most technically demanding part of a claim. The harm must not simply be an unavoidable consequence of your underlying condition or the treatment itself. It must be possible to show, on the balance of probabilities, that the failure in care caused or materially contributed to the harm you suffered.
We can assess whether all three elements are present in your situation, instructing independent medical experts to provide evidence where needed.
Who Can Sue The NHS For Medical Negligence?
Any patient who has received NHS treatment and believes it fell below the required standard can potentially bring a claim. That includes treatment by a GP, in an NHS hospital, through NHS dental services, through community mental health services, or in an A&E setting. The type of care or the setting does not limit your right to claim.
Where the person affected is a child, a parent or guardian can bring a claim on their behalf. If the child reaches 18 without a claim having been made, they then have three years from their 18th birthday to act in their own name. Where a patient lacked mental capacity at the time of the negligence, the time limit is suspended, and a litigation friend can bring a claim on their behalf.
Where NHS negligence has contributed to a patient’s death, a family member or personal representative may be able to bring a claim on behalf of the estate and, in some circumstances, claim for the impact that death has had on them personally.
We can help families understand their options where the person who suffered harm is unable to bring a claim themselves.
When Can You Sue The NHS For Medical Negligence?
The range of situations that can give rise to a claim is broader than many people expect. Some of the most common types of medical negligence claims against the NHS include:
- Delayed or missed diagnosis of cancer, stroke, or other serious conditions
- Surgical errors, including operating on the wrong site or causing avoidable injury during a procedure
- Medication errors, such as prescribing the wrong drug or an incorrect dose
- Birth injuries to mother or baby, including failures to respond to signs of foetal distress
- Inadequate post-operative monitoring or aftercare
- Failures in mental health care or risk assessment
- Hospital-acquired infections caused by inadequate hygiene standards
- Failure to refer a patient to a specialist when symptoms clearly required it
Who Pays Your Compensation When You Sue The NHS For Medical Negligence?
A common concern among clients is that bringing a claim takes money away from frontline NHS services. In practice, compensation is not paid directly from a hospital’s operating budget. NHS Resolution is the arm’s length body responsible for managing and funding clinical negligence claims on behalf of NHS trusts in England. Trusts pay into a central scheme, and NHS Resolution handles claims, negotiations, and settlements from that fund. Individual doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are not personally liable for compensation. This means that the financial impact of a successful claim does not fall on the staff who treated you, nor does it directly reduce the resources available for patient care within a specific trust.
We can help you understand exactly how the process works and who is involved at each stage, so that you have a clear picture before deciding whether to proceed with a claim. If you decide to make a claim, we will likely act for you on a No Win No Fee basis, meaning that if your claim does not succeed, you pay no legal fees.
Please call us now on 01603 672222 for a no-obligation conversation today or Click Here To Make An Online Enquiry.
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