ENT Negligence Compensation Claims

Ears, Nose, and Throat care, otherwise known as Otorhinolaryngology is an important aspect of healthcare. Doctors providing ENT care are responsible for diagnosing and treating a wide range of health issues that could arise. If negligence occurs in diagnosing or treating an ENT health issue it could have a significant negative impact on the patient’s health, recovery, and long-term quality of life.

ENT negligence compensation claims guide

ENT negligence compensation claims guide

You could hold a doctor to account if their failures or their negligence have impacted you negatively. You could do this by making a medical negligence compensation claim. To make an ENT claim you will have to prove that your ENT doctor was negligent and that as a result of this negligence you suffered harm. You would have to establish that the care and service they provided deviated from professional standards and their capabilities lacked.

A medical negligence lawyer could help you. They can help you to put a case together for compensation. This page is a guide to how they could do that and how you can take on a lawyer to help you with your case. Contact us using the following details to speak to our team about how you could be entitled to compensation.

To reach our team for further advice, you can call 0800 652 3087, message us through live chat, or fill in our website’s contact form.

Select A Section

  1. What Is Ear, Nose And Throat Negligence Compensation?
  2. What Is ENT Surgery?
  3. Causes Of ENT Negligence
  4. Types Of Ear, Nose and Throat Negligence
  5. Evidence Of Medical Negligence
  6. Surgical Damage To The Orbital Bones
  7. What Steps Can I Take If Harmed By Negligence?
  8. Surgical And Medical Negligence Claim Time Limits
  9. Ear, Nose And Throat Negligence Compensation Calculator
  10. No Win No Fee Ear, Nose And Throat Negligence Compensation Claims
  11. We Are Here To Help
  12. ENT Care Statistics
  13. Further Advice
  14. Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Ear, Nose, And Throat Negligence Compensation?

All medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This duty of care requires them to provide care and treatment at the right standard of a competent physician. When this obligation has not been met, the medical professional is deemed to have breached their duty of care.

Medical negligence can come in a number of forms. It can range from a surgical operation gone wrong, negligence leading to an incorrect or a delayed diagnosis of an injury or illness, or being provided with medication that you are known to be allergic to. If a person receives a poor standard of care but this has not affected their health they are not able to make a medical negligence claim. However, if they are injured, become ill or have their current condition worsen because of negligence then a claim for clinical negligence may be possible.

If medical negligence occurs, the victim could be entitled to compensation. This compensation can be awarded by a court, or by a settlement that the party being claimed against agrees to make. Compensation can be claimed through a medical negligence compensation claim.

What Is ENT Surgery?

Surgery could be performed on the ears, nose, and throat to treat a range of issues. Ears, nose, and throat surgery can be used to treat everything from cosmetic issues to cancer. Examples of surgery that could be carried out on the ears, nose, and throat include:

  • Rhinoplasty
  • Tonsillectomy
  • Tracheostomy
  • Septoplasty

Treatments may be offered on the NHS or if not available through this route a patient may have to pay privately. No matter whether the doctor or surgeon is performing it on the NHS or privately they owe the same duty of care. NHS page has a more detailed breakdown of the different types of ears, nose, and throat surgery that an ENT specialist might carry out.

Causes Of ENT Negligence

There are different ways in which negligence could occur. Negligence could occur at any stage of your treatment, from your first appointment with a GP, to the manner in which surgery on your ENT health issue is carried out. Examples of what medical negligence can lead to:

  • Failing to perform the correct examinations on the patient
  • Not diagnosing an illness or injury based on an examination
  • Failing to refer a patient to the relevant specialist doctors
  • Not ordering further testing and scans on the patient
  • Misreading test and scan results
  • Providing the patient with an incorrect medication
  • Performing surgery incorrectly
  • Carrying out the wrong type of surgery.
  • Poor administration causing loss of test results or improper surgery schedules

If you want to find out whether or not the mistakes that have affected you could count as medical negligence and grounds for making a negligence claim call our team today. An experienced advisor is waiting to take your call.

Types Of Ear, Nose, and Throat Negligence

Ear nose and throats are important body parts that serve vital functions. If they are not working as they should or they have become affected by illness or infection it is vital that they receive the treatment that they need. Medical negligence in ENT diagnosis or surgery can have a potentially significant effect on your health and quality of life. Negligence in ENT could leave a patient with significant cosmetic disfigurement or with disabilities. Some examples of the consequences of ENT negligence could include:

  • Damage to the facial nerves causing numbness and loss of use of facial muscles
  • Injuries to the eyes or optic nerves, causing impaired vision or loss of sight
  • Damage to parts of the ear causing impaired hearing or impaired balance
  • Damage to the nose causing loss of smell and disfigurement
  • Injuries to the throat or vocal cords

If you would like to know more about whether you could be entitled to claim compensation for medical negligence based on injuries or health problems you have suffered following ENT negligence, contact us today.

Evidence Of Medical Negligence

As with any kind of personal injury compensation claim there also has to be supporting evidence for a medical negligence claim. You won’t be entitled to claim compensation just based on your word alone, so what kind of evidence could you and your solicitor produce in order to support a successful claim?

The opinion of an independent medical expert could play a big role. You will need to undergo an examination to assess the extent of the damage done by the medical negligence. Without an official diagnosis of the effects of medical negligence, it may be difficult to prove your claims. If you work with a medical negligence solicitor they will arrange for you to see an independent medical expert to evaluate the suffering caused by the negligence that occurred. This report will be used to value your injury.

Make sure that you have retained your medical records. This includes letters and any other correspondence you have had with your doctor of the surgery or hospital they work for. Keep hold of letters, prescriptions, and save copies of emails you have had back and forth with your doctor. Retain any prescription medication you have been given, or the packaging it came in.

It is not always clear if a duty of care has been breached. Very often courts will want to carry out the Bolam test. This is applied to show if a doctor has acted within the required capabilities of his/her professional standards. A group of peers with similar qualifications will be asked to assess the doctor’s performance. If they agree the doctor has acted within professional standards the case will not be valid.

It will be useful to have the testimony of witnesses. If possible, you should attempt to get the contact detail of anyone who witnessed the negligence. Your medical negligence solicitor could ask for a statement. The testimony of witnesses or of medical professionals could provide crucial to identifying and exposing the failures that caused the medical negligence.

Surgical Damage To The Orbital Bones

The Orbital Bones are the bones surrounding and containing the eyeballs and related nerves and muscles, more commonly referred to as the “eye socket.” One of the most common ways in which ENT negligence can lead to damage to the orbital bones is during Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS). This is a procedure that is often carried out in order to effect the removal of nasal polyps.

If the eyesocket is damaged it could have a serious effect on the eyesight. Symptoms of damage to the eye, eye socket or orbital bones include double vision, difficulty moving the eyes, and blood clots in the eyes. Failing to spot and diagnose a fracture of the eye socket because of medical misdiagnosis negligence may lead you to question may you have a valid claim?

What Steps Can I Take If Harmed By Negligence?

It is entirely your choice whether you have a medical negligence solicitor help you pursue your case. There is no legal requirement that a solicitor must represent your case. However, the area of medicine and law are both complicated in their own right. When combined they become complex. A medical negligence solicitor would not only have the knowledge but also the experience to know how to build a successful case.

Medical negligence solicitors could offer you advice about what to do next and whether or not you could be eligible to make a claim. They can also help you to get in touch with a doctor to receive a medical examination to assess the extent of the damages done by the negligence.

Keep hold of all documentation of negligence. Keep receipts, all documents, and forms. Keep a record of all correspondence and communication you have had with your doctor and the surgery or hospital they work for.

Surgical And Medical Negligence Claim Time Limits

By law, you have to bring your claim within three years of the negligence taking place. Or from when you become knowledgeable that the negligence caused illness to injury This time limit is set out by the Limitations Act 1980. Depending on the circumstances there are exceptions to this rule. But you must establish early on when your time limit has begun so as not to have your case become statute-barred.

There are certain exceptions that can be made under the law to allow people to make claims beyond the normal three-year time limit. Someone who was a child at the time of the accident could make a claim after they turn 18, with a time limit lasting until they are 21. In the meantime, a parent, guardian, or solicitor could act as a litigation friend and make a claim on behalf of the child until they turn 18.

If a person is unable to manage their own legal affairs under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, then they will not be able to make a claim. However, they could be entitled to make a claim once they have recovered, with an exception being made to the three-year time limit. Alternatively, someone else could bring a claim on their behalf.

Ear, Nose, And Throat Negligence Compensation Calculator

We can’t tell you the exact amount of compensation you could claim here. Calculating compensation is done by working out how severely affected you have been by the injury and its resulting effects. Compensation is awarded in two parts, both for the injuries’ direct physical effects (general damage) and for their financial effects (special damages).

Compensation awarded for the physical effects of medical negligence on your health is known as general damages. General damages are awarded usually in accordance with guidelines produced by the Judicial College. You can see rough outlines of how the worth of general damages is worked out in the table below.

InjuryCompensation
Total blindness and deafnessIn the region of £379,100
Total blindness In the region of £252,180
Loss of sight in one eye and partial loss of sight in the other£90,100 to £168,730
Total loss of one eye£51,460 to £61,690
Complete loss of sight in one eye £46,240 to £51,460
Minor eye injury£3,710 to £8,200
Total loss of hearing in one ear£29,380 to £42,730
Total Deafness£85,170 to £102,890
Slight tinnitus with slight NIHL£6,910 to £11,820
Simple jaw fractures £6,060 to £8,200

Compensation awarded for financial losses is known as special damages. Special damages cover the financial losses and expenses you incur because of the injury, which could include loss of earnings from taking time off work to private healthcare costs, to money spent on using public transport.

No Win No Fee Ear, Nose, And Throat Negligence Compensation Claims

If you are worried about losing money on legal fees in a medical negligence claim why not choose to work with a No Win No Fee solicitor. If a solicitor thinks that your case has solid grounds to be awarded compensation they may offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. This means you will sign a Conditional Fee Agreement. Within this agreement, it should state that unless the claim is won the solicitor does not receive payment.

You will not have to pay your solicitor upfront to start your case. There will be no payments throughout your case to your solicitor. If the case concludes without a payout you would not be liable for paying your solicitor’s fees. For more information about how this type of claim works, you can contact our team for more information.

We Are Here To Help

If you have questions about making a medical negligence compensation claim we can provide you with answers. We can also put you in touch with a No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitor from our panel. They can help you to prepare a case and make a claim for compensation. Use the contact details listed on this page to reach our team to find out the answers to your questions about making a medical negligence claim.

To reach our team for further advice, you can call 0800 652 3087, message us through live chat, or fill in our website’s contact form.

ENT Care Statistics

Ears, nose, and throat care, and surgery are some of the most common specialisations in the NHS. There are 1476 ENT surgeons in the NHS. The reason they are so common is that ENT care covers such a broad range of potential health issues. Most ENT doctors will specialise in a certain area of care.

Most ENT health issues are resolved without surgery. The majority are treated through prescribing medication. Just 15% of ENT patients are treated with surgery. Ears, nose, and throat health problems are more common among young patients, so ENT specialists tend to treat a larger proportion of pediatric patients than other doctors.

Further Advice

Missed nasal fractures

Laser eye surgery negligence

Missed neck fracture compensation

Making legal claims against the NHS

Surgery medical negligence claims

Frequently Asked Questions

Could I claim on behalf of another person or for a child?

If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child you could claim on their behalf until they become legally old enough to make a claim on their own behalf when they turn 18. You could also be able to claim on someone else’s behalf if they have been rendered unable to make a claim on their own behalf.

Will my treatment be affected by making a claim?

Your right to claim and your right to seek treatment is not affected or related to one another.

Does my solicitor need to see my medical records?

If your medical records concern your ENT treatment and are relevant to the medical negligence you have suffered from then your solicitor will request to access your medical records in order to put together the evidence for your case.

Are there other funding options?

When making the claim you have the option of either funding the claim through paying legal fees to your solicitor or working with a No Win No Fee solicitor. You also have the right to represent yourself if you wanted to.

Find resources below to learn more about hospital negligence claims.