Medical Negligence Claims

If you’ve suffered as a result of medical malpractice, we’re here for you. As the leading clinical and medical negligence law firm in the UK, we know how to make a positive difference to your life. Our experienced medical negligence solicitors will take the time to understand what you’re going through, helping you get the answers and compensation you deserve.

What is medical negligence?

Medical negligence is when medical professionals make mistakes or fail in their duty of care to you, leading to injury or making an existing condition worse. There are a number of ways that medical negligence can happen, such as misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment or surgical mistakes.

To find out more about medical negligence and read more answers to frequently asked questions, read our guide page here.

Our guides can also help you understand what to expect from the legal process. They’ll also signpost you to our charity partners and support networks who can help with the treatment, rehabilitation and support you may need.

To download our support guide, click here.

How do you make a medical negligence claim?

The first step to making a medical negligence claim is to contact us as soon as possible. We offer a free initial consultation where we’ll be able to tell you if we think you have a case and how much compensation you might be able to claim.

Contacting us early allows us to start work on your case while the details are still fresh in your mind. If the NHS or private healthcare provider in question admits responsibility early then we may be able to get you interim compensation payments to help with your rehabilitation. Interim payments are made ahead of your final compensation settlement and can help with some of the immediate daily living and medical costs you may be facing.

What are the time limits for making a medical negligence claim?

You usually need to start a medical negligence claim within three years of finding out you've received negligent treatment (you may not realise straight away but only after your injury or illness becomes worse).

However, there are a couple of exceptions to this rule:

Children – medical negligence claims involving a child can be made any time before your child turns 18. On your child’s 18th birthday the three year rule comes into effect, so a claim needs to be started before they turn 21.
Mental Capacity – if a person lacks the capacity to make a claim themselves, there's no time limit for making a claim.

How long do medical negligence claims take?

How long it takes for a medical negligence case to settle will depend on a number of things – most important will be the severity of your injury and whether the NHS or private healthcare provider responsible accepts fault. While we aim to settle medical negligence claims within a few months, more complicated cases can take a few years to settle.

Can you make a no win no fee medical negligence claim?

We make most medical negligence claims on a no win no fee basis. This means you won't pay anything upfront and will only pay if your claim is successful*.

If you win your case, your opponent will pay most of your legal fees with the rest coming out of your compensation award. We’ll keep you fully updated throughout your claim, so you know how much compensation you're likely to receive.

Why choose Irwin Mitchell to manage your medical negligence claim?

We've decades of experience handling medical negligence cases and specialise in areas including birth injuries, orthopaedic injuries and cancer misdiagnosis claims. We’ll gather expert advice on your care needs, ensuring that your compensation helps you to access the support you need to enjoy the best quality of life possible.

Our medical negligence solicitors understand what you’re going through and can help you access specialist rehabilitation and support services to assist with your recovery. We know that, beyond compensation, you’ll want to know why things went wrong and we’ll help you get the apology and answers you deserve.

Legal 500, the largest independent legal survey in the UK, published this review of our medical negligence team: "The team at Irwin Mitchell are friendly, professional and supportive. Being able to contact them 24/7 provided reassurance for myself. I was assigned one solicitor for my case who I had throughout the whole 5 years, this allowed the process to run smoothly and for myself to feel guided by someone who knew all the details of my case. Every interaction I had with the team was pleasant and informative; they provided me with all the necessary information throughout the case without overwhelming me."

Zach's Story

Our client Zach was born with cerebral palsy. Despite only being 11, he hasn't let it hold him back and 2020 he walked 130 laps of his garden. Sadly, his social media post was targeted with flashing images by online trolls.

Alongside Epilepsy Society, Zach pushed for new laws to prevent online bullying and stop similar incidents in the future harming people with epilepsy.

Our office locations

We have offices based all over the country, so wherever you're based, we can help you. If you're unable to make it in to see us, we can visit you at home or in hospital.

Our medical negligence experts are based in the following offices:

Contact us

For a free initial consultation about your clinical negligence claim, call us on 0800 121 6567 or contact us online and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

No Win No Fee*

Largest medical negligence team in the UK

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Lisa Jordan Managing Partner - Medical Negligence Meet Our Medical Negligence Team

Medical Negligence Claims - How Our Solicitors Can Help You

Zach is brave, he is brilliant, and he believes anything is possible. The team of experts that he has around him makes a massive difference to how he feels and what he can do.”

Claire, Zach's mother

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence is a breach of the duty of care that a medical professional or organisation has towards its patients. Sadly medical negligence can often cause injuries and illness, or make existing conditions worse.

There are a number of ways in which medical negligence can take place, including:

Not warning you of the risks involved in your treatment
Failing to get your consent to perform an operation
Delaying your referral to a specialist
Failing to diagnose your medical condition
Diagnosing your condition late (despite symptoms at an earlier stage)
Prescribing the wrong medication
Not performing your surgery with sufficient care.

If you’ve suffered from medical negligence our lawyers could help you make a claim. To find out more about how we can help, contact us on 0800 121 6567.

Who Can Make A Clinical Negligence Claim?

Our medical negligence solicitors could help you make a claim if you’ve been injured by NHS Trusts, private hospitals, specialist doctors, cosmetic surgeons, dentists, mental health professionals, nurses and other medical staff.

You can also make a claim on behalf of a child, someone who doesn’t have mental capacity, and for a loved one who has died because of medical negligence.

Claims on behalf of children

You can be appointed as a ‘litigation friend’ to make a claim on behalf of a child who has experienced medical negligence under the age of 18. A litigation friend is normally one of the child’s parents or guardians and must be able to show that they can act fairly in the child’s best interests.

Normally, any compensation awarded to your child will be paid to the court and put in an investment account. Your child can apply to get access to their award when they turn 18. Sometimes when small sums are involved, the court can pay the amount to you but it would be expected that you’d put the money into a bank account for your child.

Claims for people without mental capacity

You can help someone make a claim who can’t manage their own affairs. Usually a person is thought not to have capacity if they can’t make sensible decisions about their money, if they can’t weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of their choices or if they can’t clearly communicate to make their decisions clear.

Fatal negligence claims

If you’ve lost a loved one who unfortunately died because of mistakes made in their medical treatment, you can make a claim on their behalf.

We can help you with:

Getting compensation for your loved one’s pain and suffering, to account for financial losses caused by their death and to cover funeral expenses
Representing you at inquest
Dependency claims – helping you secure inheritance that wasn’t left in your loved one’s Will
Getting you the answers and apology you deserve.

Our lawyers could also help you access a statutory bereavement award, a payment of £15,120 which is paid when a wrongful death has occurred. This is available if you’re the spouse, civil partner or parent (if under 18) of the person who died.

If you’d like to make a claim, contact us today on 0800 121 6567.

What Can Medical Negligence Compensation Pay For?

The role of compensation is to make your life a little easier, making sure you get the support you need to enjoy the best quality of life possible. Our main priority is your health, so we’ll make sure that you can access care and support for your unique needs.

When we work out how much compensation you’re entitled to, we’ll take into account factors such as:

Expenses – including travel expenses to medical appointments, medical equipment and things that help with daily living.
Loss of earnings – to cover time you’ve had off work and time off you may need in the future. This figure can also cover matters such as not returning to the same role or not being able to return to work.
Further treatments – to pay for any further surgery or medical procedures you may need after experiencing negligent treatment.
Adaptations – to your home and vehicle which can help with living independently.
Care costs – to fund home care visits and past and future rehabilitative treatments.

Your compensation will also take into account any unnecessary pain and suffering you’ve experienced. The nature and severity of your injury or illness will also be considered, as will your chances of making a full recovery.

The amount of compensation secured in medical negligence claims varies from one case to another, as two clients with the same injuries may have completely different circumstances.

If you’d like to make a compensation claim, contact us to set up a free initial consultation on 0800 121 6567.

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