It is understandable to feel worried about making a clinical negligence claim. Many people have guilty feelings about claiming against the NHS or private healthcare providers. But, if a medical professional has failed in their duty of care, causing harm or injury, it can have a damaging impact on your life, and you are entitled to compensation.

Clinical negligence at a glance

Clinical negligence, or medical negligence as it is also known as, is the broad term used to describe mistakes, accidents and substandard care from medical staff, in the NHS and private healthcare. It includes a range of clinical treatments, whether at hospitals, a GP surgery, health centre or at home.

When things go wrong, it can have a life-changing effect, not only for you but your family too. 

Clinical negligence pay-outs vary dramatically and compensation amounts can be anything from around £1,500 to as high as several million. It is therefore difficult to say what your settlement will be, as every claim is unique. To find out more, visit our advice hub section and the frequently asked question of how much compensation you will receive. 

The length of clinical negligence claims depends on how long it takes to gather evidence, whether the other party admits fault, the severity of the injury and the extent of the claim for damages. Straightforward clinical negligence claims may settle within a year, whereas complex cases may take several years.

Claiming on behalf of a child

If your child has suffered illness or injury due to clinically negligent treatment, you can claim on their behalf, as their litigation friend, until they turn 18.

If we take on your case, we will work to establish what clinical negligence occurred and how this has directly affected your child. This will consider the injuries and any future conditions or care needs that are connected to the negligence.

To quantify your child’s compensation, it may be necessary to wait until they are older in order to understand the impact of the injuries or illness. If this is the case, it may be possible to seek to obtain interim payments to help cover your child’s ongoing medical and/or care needs, until the full extent of their injuries is known.

If settlement is achieved on behalf of your child it’s necessary for it to be approved by the court. This allows a judge to consider the injuries and approve the amount of the settlement. Once approved the settlement money is put into a Special Investment Account on behalf of your child and accessed by them once they turn 18. It is possible, with court approval, to request release of monies before then provided there is a compelling reason to do so.