Have you suffered due to poor care in a hospital? This article has been put together to give you information on whether you could make a claim for the impact on your health. As well as details on the eligibility to claim, you’ll also learn about what can constitute hospital negligence and how our solicitors can help you on a No Win No Fee basis.
There’s also a section on evidence that can help support a hospital negligence claim, as well as one on how compensation is calculated in the context of harm caused by poor care in a hospital.
Harm caused by poor care in a hospital can fall under the category of medical negligence. This is also referred to as clinical negligence.
If you have any questions or if you like to make a hospital negligence claim with the help of our medical negligence solicitors, our advisors are available 24/7 to help. Get in touch today by:
- Call on 0800 652 3087
- Use the pop-up chat window
- Discuss your claim online
Select A Section
- When Could You Claim For Poor Care In A Hospital?
- What Is Hospital Negligence?
- How Do I Prove Poor Care In A Hospital?
- What Could You Claim For Poor Care In A Hospital?
- How Medical Negligence Solicitors Could Help You Claim Compensation
- Further Guidance On Claiming For Poor Care In A Hospital
When Could You Claim For Poor Care In A Hospital?
There are certain criteria that a clinical negligence claim needs to meet in order to be considered valid. These are:
- Were you owed a duty of care? – You need to be able to prove you were owed a duty of care at the time of being harmed. Healthcare professionals owe each of their patients a duty of care. This means the standard of care they provide their patients needs to meet a certain standard. If you have been treated as a patient, then you were owed this duty.
- Was the duty breached? – A breach of a duty of care is when the medical professional in question does not deliver a level of care that meets the required standard.
- Were you harmed as a result? – The breach of a medical professional’s duty needs to have caused you harm. Otherwise, you can’t make a medical negligence claim for poor care in a hospital.
These criteria form the basis of what is known as medical negligence.
There is a time limit to consider as well. The Limitation Act 1980 states that you have 3 years to begin a claim for medical negligence. However, there can be exceptions to this. Get in touch to find out if you’re still within your window of opportunity to make a hospital negligence claim.
How Do I Complain About Poor Hospital Care?
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve received poor care in a private hospital or an NHS hospital. There are complaints procedures in place for all medical facilities. They will differ depending on where you suffered harm.
If you’d like assistance in approaching a facility to make a complaint and inform them of the pain and suffering you’ve experienced, our advisors can assist you with this. Get in touch today.
What Is Hospital Negligence?
There are a few different scenarios that could fall under the category of poor care in a hospital. We’ve compiled a short list below of some ways a medical professional such as a doctor or surgeon could breach their duty of care to you in a hospital.
- Negligent/unnecessary surgery – There can be a few examples of this. For instance, you could undergo an operation such as a leg amputation that was intended for another patient entirely. Another example could be if the surgeon leaves a foreign body such as a scalpel inside you after an operation.
- Misdiagnosis – It could be that you are subjected to a cancer misdiagnosis. For example, it could be that you have cancer, but your scans are misinterpreted. This could result in your doctor missing a cancer diagnosis and causing your health to deteriorate further due to a lack of appropriate treatment.
- Prescription errors – Your doctor may prescribe you a medication that you are allergic to if they fail to consult your medical records.
Reach out today to find out more about hospital negligence claims and whether your circumstances could make you eligible to receive compensation.
How Do I Prove Poor Care In A Hospital?
When claiming for the harm caused in a hospital due to medical negligence, you need to be able to support the claim with evidence. We’ve included some examples in the list below. However, these are just general examples, and the list is not exhaustive:
- Your medical records, which can be obtained by your solicitor as part of the claims process. However, if you have any letters from the hospital in relation to the treatment received, these can also prove useful.
- A personal diary of what happened and how the injuries have affected you.
- Scans, X-rays, and test results. Again these can be obtained by your solicitor during the claim.
- An independent medical assessment.
The Bolam test can also be relevant in a case such as this. This is when other healthcare professionals are consulted regarding a negligent doctor’s conduct and is a step that is usually conducted during the claim.
It’s important to bear in mind that a healthcare professional could breach their duty of care without the instances equating to medical negligence.
What Could You Claim For Poor Care In A Hospital?
When you experience harm due to poor care in a hospital, the compensation you receive as the result of a successful claim is calculated in line with your pain and suffering. To put it another way, the amount will be unique to your circumstances.
The legal professionals handling your case will carry out bespoke calculations to work out how much your general damages head of claim should be worth. General damages are to account for your pain and suffering.
The table below contains figures taken from the latest edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Last reviewed in 2022, the JCG is used as part of the process of valuing a general damages payment.
Figures From The JCG
The figures shown are based on successful past court cases. Use them only as a guide. Your own claim will differ in value depending on your circumstances.
Injury Description Amount
Paralysis (a) Tetraplegia - Various factors are taken into account when arriving at a settlement amount. For example, the injured person's level of awareness and response to their environment are considered. The level of pain is also accounted for, amongst other factors. £324,600 to £403,990
Kidney (a) Both kidneys are lost or are permanently damaged. £169,400 to £210,400
Kidney (c) One kidney will not be damaged, but the other is lost. £30,770 to £44,880
Chest (a) Worst case scenarios will be the complete removal of a lung. There could also be serious damage to the heart along with prolonged pain and suffering. There may also be significant scarring that is permanent. £100,670 to £150,110
Arm (b) Loss of one arm - Amputated at the shoulder. Not less than £137,160
Eye (d) One eye totally lost. £54,830 to £65,710
Taste (d) Loss of taste. £19,200 to £24,990
Spleen (a) Ongoing risk of disorders and internal infections due to the damage caused to the immune system by the loss of the organ. £20,800 to £26,290
Female reproductive system Although fertility is not affected, there will have been a delay in the diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy that leads to pain and suffering. In some instances, there will be the removal of a fallopian tube. £3,390 to £20,430
Wrist (e) A colles' fracture with no further complications. In the region of £7,430
Examples Of Other Ways You Could Be Compensated
Suffering due to poor care in a hospital could also impact you financially. If so, you could be eligible to receive a second head of claim called special damages. This is when you could be reimbursed for the expenses and losses caused by the harm you’ve experienced due to poor treatment in a hospital.
Examples can include:
- Prescription costs.
- Travel costs.
- Loss of earnings.
- Care at home.
- Adaptations to your property.
Get in touch to find out more, including the evidence you’ll need to support a special damages claim.
How Medical Negligence Solicitors Could Help You Claim Compensation
Whether your health has been impacted due to a delay in diagnosis, a delayed hospital procedure, or some other form of poor care in a hospital, you could be owed compensation. Our solicitors could assist you with your claim. Not only are they well-versed in medical negligence law, but they also work with their clients under a form of No Win No Fee arrangement. It’s known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
With a CFA in place, you do not have to pay any upfront fees to access the legal services of a solicitor. They take a success fee from your compensation instead. However, not only is this fee taken in the form of a legally capped percentage, but it isn’t taken at all if your claim fails.
Not all solicitors work with a CFA in place. This is why working with our No Win No Fee solicitors can mean less of a financial risk when compared to working with one who does not offer a CFA.
How To Contact Our Team
You can get in touch at any time of the day or night. Our advisors are ready to help you. Once you answer a few of their questions, they will be better positioned to offer you advice specific to your case.
If they believe your case to be valid, then they could even connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to begin the process of your claim. Although, you are under no obligation to start a claim if you speak to us.
- Call on 0800 652 3087
- Use the pop-up chat window
- Discuss your claim online
Further Guidance On Claiming For Poor Care In A Hospital
We hope you now have a better understanding of medical negligence claims for poor care in a hospital. We’ve included some links below to extra resources that you may also find helpful.
More from us:
- Dispensing errors in pharmacies and hospitals – Find out if you could be owed compensation.
- Hospital missed an injury – Our guide on whether you could have a valid claim.
- Developed sepsis in hospital – Information on whether you could make a claim for this.
Information from other sources:
- Litigation friends – Sometimes, the affected party may be incapable of making their own claim. Read about appointing someone to claim on their behalf.
- Never events – NHS information on scenarios that could lead to a claim.
- Legal jargon explained – The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has simplified some confusing legal terminology.