The NHS (National Health Service) is one of the UK’s greatest institutions, providing life-changing and life-saving free healthcare for over 75 years. Still, if your health has been compromised by their wrongdoing, you may need to sue the NHS for negligence.
If you’ve suffered medical negligence, or had problems with your medical treatment, you may be wondering how to sue the NHS and claim compensation. You may have many questions like “Can I sue the NHS for negligence?”, “How can I sue NHS parties?”, and “How much compensation may I get?”.
The decision isn’t always easy, as you may feel a moral obligation not to pursue a claim that could hurt the NHS. You may not even be sure that there has been medical negligence by the NHS.
This guide aims to provide the answers you need and take you through the process.
When using the NHS, you put your health and wellness in the hands of medical teams. So, if their errors cause unnecessary complications, you will want to sue the NHS for negligence. The most common sources of claims are as follows:
Whether it’s a misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis, a medical team’s failure to identify health issues could have a disastrous impact on your life. From not treating a condition to the side effects caused by the wrong medications, these forms of negligence may form the basis for successfully making a claim against the NHS.
A baby is born somewhere in the UK every 54 seconds. Most deliveries are successful, protecting mother and baby very well. However, injuries caused by mismanagement in delivery or NICU care will leave you asking “Can I sue NHS teams?”, and the answer is usually yes.
Never Events are defined as incidents that should have been prevented. Examples include operating on the wrong body part or receiving medication via the wrong route. When asking
“Can I sue the NHS for negligence?” in relation to this type of situation, the fact that negligence caused unnecessary repercussions means that you can.
Medical negligence is defined as “a failure to provide reasonable care which results in harm ”. It is not limited to claims against the National Health Service, with thousands of claims being made against private medical care teams each year too.
It can be caused when medical teams make errors of judgement, miss vital information, or overlook issues. Either way, the answer to the question “Can you sue the NHS?” is positive if any of those situations occur.
It’s not just a case of can you sue the NHS for negligence. It’s also necessary to ensure that you have the evidence to make a successful claim. In 2022/23, there were a total of 13,511 clinical and 3,192 non-clinical claims. All successful claims will have been accompanied by the following:
This could include a letter from the NHS confirming their errors, along with the steps taken to rectify the issue or letters relating to treatments and your diagnosis.
Friends and family can provide witness statements to confirm your retelling of events, either relating to the negligent treatment or the repercussions that followed.
Medical reviews and documentation from outside private doctors may also help your case. Lawyers often seek this as a part of the preparation.
Negligence is only committed when there is a breach of duty of care which has caused an injury.
This is one of the most vital steps, albeit a lengthy one. All documents and records relating to your NHS services, treatment, wrongful diagnosis, prescriptions, and subsequent interactions must be detailed.
Get advice from a personal injury lawyer with experience in medical negligence claims. As well as confirming whether you have a case, they can guide you through the subsequent processes.
A Letter of Claim is a formal document that sets out your allegations of negligence. It should be professionally constructed and subsequently sent to the NHS Response.
Step 5: NHS Response
You will then wait for the NHS Response to inform you whether they accept the claim or plan to challenge it. If you sent your Letter of Claim through a lawyer, the response will be sent back to them.
Depending on the response, your claim will either enter the settlement negotiation phase (if the NHS accepts the claim) or go to court (if they plan to challenge it). The latter could open up a lengthy legal battle.
Hopefully, you will gain enough compensation either through resolution or litigation to cover your damages and resume your life. This will also provide a conclusion to the legal battle, even if your claim fails.
If you are wondering “Can you sue the NHS for negligence”, a brief look at the statistics shows that it is a fairly common situation. Some key facts include;
If you suffer from medical negligence from the NHS, either as the victim or a loved one of a deceased person, you must not ignore it. Knowing how to claim for medical negligence and use the steps above will ensure that you follow the right path.
You can follow the NHS complaints procedure or take legal advice from an expert like TBI Law Firm. However, it’s vital that you act ASAP, not least because a long procedure follows.
NHS compensation payouts amount to £2 billion annually. Ultimately, there is no set figure on how much you will be paid out as the settlement will be influenced by several factors, such as;
Generally speaking, most successful claims can expect to receive a five or six-figure payout. However, the median and mode averages are vastly different to the mean average. Naturally, the level of anticipated compensation will be determined by the impact it has on the patient’s life.
The best advice is always to call an expert in medical negligence claims to see whether you can sue the NHS for negligence.
In addition to damages directly linked to injuries caused by NHS negligence, it may be possible to sue the NHS for negligence relating to;
One of the biggest perceived stumbling blocks for victims of medical negligence stems from the fear of spending money on the case. After all, the NHS Resolution team has a lot of resources. If you’re doubting “Can I sue the NHS for negligence and stand a genuine chance of compensation?”, working with TBI Law Firm offers a better solution.
Thanks to “no win, no fee” services, there is no need to pay anything upfront. After a complimentary consultation, a lawyer will pursue eligible cases and simply take a small percentage of any successful payout.
So, there are no expenses for starting a case or completing the necessary preparations. Likewise, failed claimants won’t pay a penny.
Technically, you can represent yourself in court. However, it is always best to partner with an experienced lawyer in medical negligence. Firstly, they will review the case to ask “Can you sue the NHS for negligence?” and determine whether it is worth trying based on the evidence.
Other reasons to work with a lawyer include, but are not limited to;
For the sake of your sanity as well as the financial outcomes, calling an expert is always advised - not least because a “no win, no fee” removes any risk.
When you want to sue the NHS for negligence, understanding the potential timeframes involved is vital. While each case is unique, the reality of the situation is that it could be years before you see a payout. Reasons for delays include, but are not limited to;
Calling an expert results in a streamlined process, potentially with a quick settlement, while also giving you the transparency you deserve throughout.
Litigation generally gives claimants a three-year period to begin legal action against the NHS for medical negligence.
While starting a claim after this time is more difficult, it is possible. With the right legal support, it is even possible to start a claim after 10 years as long as you have only become aware of negligence within the past three years.
It is a far more common issue than many people think, though, due to a combination of increased public knowledge of what constitutes negligence and the emergence of symptoms in later life. If you believe that there may be grounds to sue the NHS for negligence that took place years ago, Tilly Bailey & Irvine can help.
NHS negligence compensation claims can fall into two main categories - general damages and special damages.
General damages are directly linked to the injuries or suffering caused directly by the misdiagnosis, mistreatment or negligent behaviour.
Special damages cover medical care, equipment costs, lost earnings, and anything else that is needed to help restore normality to your life.
There is no way to know your payout until the individual claim has been judged on its own merits. However, PTSD could pay out £50k - £100k while blindness can be over £300k and severe brain damage could be up to £500k.
The NHS Litigation Authority, which was launched in 1995, requires all NHS Trusts to pay a ‘premium’ into the system. This ultimately builds a pot that is used to cover the costs of successful claims.
Many people feel conflicted about whether they should sue the NHS for negligence or not. After all, the free health service is one of the UK’s biggest successes while the medical teams work with honest intentions.
Nevertheless, the fact that their negligence has caused life-changing repercussions cannot be ignored. When combined with the fact that funds come from the NHS Resolution pot, you should not feel guilty about taking legal action against NHS teams in the same way you would private care teams.
The TBI Law medical negligence team have decades of experience in ensuring that clients receive what they’re entitled to. For further advice on how to sue the NHS for negligence, contact our friendly experts today, who are ready to fight for you.
