Within this guide, we look at how you could use evidence to prove a hospital negligence claim. To make a medical negligence claim, you must be able to show how a medical professional or healthcare institution, such as a hospital breached their duty of care to you, causing you to sustain harm that was otherwise avoidable. Therefore, this guide will provide an explanation of the duty of care owed by medical professionals and how a failure to uphold this duty could lead to an eligible medical negligence claim.
We have also included information on how medical negligence compensation is calculated to compensate you for the harm you have suffered and for any financial impact it has caused.
Finally, this guide contains a short explanation of the type of No Win No Fee agreement our solicitors could offer you, as well as the benefits of working with one of our experienced and dedicated solicitors.
Prove Hospital Negligence Claims Guide
You can speak to our advisors at any time with questions or concerns or to get a free assessment of your particular circumstances and eligibility to begin a claim. You can reach our team via the following:
- Call on 0800 073 8801
- Complete our online “Contact Us” form via this link
- Use the live chat function at the bottom of the screen for fast answers to your questions.
Select A Section
- How Do You Prove Hospital Negligence Claims?
- Am I Eligible To Make A Hospital Negligence Claim?
- What Could Cause Hospital Negligence?
- How Much Could You Claim For Hospital Negligence?
- How Working With A No Win No Fee Solicitor Could Help You Prove Medical Negligence
- Related Guides On How To Prove Hospital Negligence
How Do You Prove Hospital Negligence Claims?
In order to demonstrate you experienced avoidable harm because a duty of care owed to you was breached, you will need to assemble a body of supporting evidence. Evidence is used not only to show that a negligent action occurred but also the effects this had on both your physical and mental well-being. Clearly demonstrating these impacts will be useful when making a medical negligence claim.
Examples of supporting evidence that could be used to prove hospital negligence took place could include:
- A witness statement from someone who attended your treatment. Make sure you have their contact details so the witness can provide their statement during the claims process.
- Your admission letter. This is a document that states you were admitted to hospital and what ward you were on, and therefore shows that the hospital owed you a duty of care.
- Medical documents that detail your treatment, such as the results of scans or tests, prescriptions and records of surgeries. These documents can be used to show negligent action during your treatment, as well as any subsequent treatment to correct the harm caused by that negligent action.
Will The Bolam Test Be Used To Prove Hospital Negligence?
The Bolam Test is an assessment of the care you received. Medical professionals from the relevant field will examine your care and assess whether or not the correct standard was provided. This isn’t something you will need to worry about organising yourself, and the usage of the Bolam Test is decided on a case-by-case basis. However, if the Test is used in your claim, its findings can then be used as evidence.
Get a free assessment of your eligibility to claim from our team today. If they decide you have a valid claim, they could put you in touch with one of our solicitors. A solicitor could assist you with collecting evidence, as well as making sure your claim is brought within the relevant time limit.
Am I Eligible To Make A Hospital Negligence Claim?
Medical professionals and healthcare providers such as hospitals, both public and private, owe a duty of care to their patients. This duty requires them to provide patients with the correct standard of care. Failure to uphold the correct standard of care during treatment can result in patients experiencing avoidable harm.
By “avoidable harm,” we are referring to harm that would not have occurred had the medical professional provided care at the correct standard. To start a hospital negligence claim, you will need to meet the following criteria:
- A medical professional or hospital owed you a duty of care.
- They breached their duty of care by failing to provide care at the correct standard.
- This failure resulted in you experiencing avoidable harm.
Our team of advisors has considerable experience in assessing potential medical negligence claims. For a free assessment of your eligibility to start a claim against a hospital or further guidance on how you can prove hospital negligence occurred, talk to our team today via any of the contact information provided above.
What Could Cause Hospital Negligence?
In this section, we look in more detail at how hospital negligence could occur and how this could impact a patient.
Some possible scenarios where medical negligence could occur in a hospital are:
- Inadequate hygiene practices in the hospital led to you contracting a serious hospital infection.
- You were due to have surgery on your left knee joint, but due to administrative errors, surgeons began the operation on your right knee instead. This surgical negligence not only caused a delay in your treatment but resulted in additional avoidable harm to your right knee.
- A doctor in the hospital misdiagnosed you and therefore did not refer you for further testing despite you displaying clear symptoms of lung cancer. By the time you received the correct diagnosis, the cancer had spread further, necessitating more invasive treatment.
- If a doctor or nurse fails to follow the correct procedures while you are using one of the hospital beds, an accident could potentially happen that leads you to fall off the bed.
There is a vast array of different circumstances where you could receive negligent treatment in a hospital. If your particular circumstances are not listed above, you could still be eligible to claim. Speak to our team today for a zero-cost assessment of your potential claim as well as further advice on how you could prove hospital negligence occurred.
How Much Could You Claim For Hospital Negligence?
A successful claim will see you awarded medical negligence compensation. There are two heads of claim that this compensation can be made up of. These are known as general and special damages. General damages are awarded for the physical and psychological harm caused by the negligent action. To assist in the calculation of a possible value for general damages, solicitors can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). We have taken a number of the JCG brackets for use in the table below.
Compensation Table
Please be advised that the figures in the JCG are guidelines, not fixed compensation amounts.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Guideline Bracket Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brain Damage | Moderately Severe (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | Very serious disability necessitating full time professional care. Disabilities could be physical or cognitive. |
| Kidney | Serious and Permanent Damage | £169,400 to £210,400 | The injured person has suffered serious and permanent damage to, or lost both kidneys. |
| Bowels | Double incontinence (a) | Up to £184,200 | Cases where there has been a total loss of natural bowel and urinary tract function with other complications. |
| Epilepsy | Established Petit Mal (b) | £54,830 to £131,370 | Award for epilepsy are dependent on the impact on work and social life, the success of medication in controlling attacks and any associated behavioral problems. |
| Lung Disease | Lung Cancer (b) | £70,030 to £97,330 | Lung cancer, (typically in an older person) causing severe pain, impairment of function and impacting quality of life. |
| Digestive system | Traumatic Injury (a)(i) | £43,010 to £61,910 | Severe damage and continuing discomfort and pain. |
| Non-traumatic Injury (b)(i) | £38,430 to £52,500 | Acute pain, diarrhoea, fever and vomiting stemming from severe toxicosis. | |
| Spleen | Loss of Spleen (a) | £20,800 to £26,290 | Loss of spleen with a continuing risk of infection due to a compromised immune system. |
| Knee | Moderate (b)(i) | £14,840 to £26,190 | Injuries such as a dislocation, torn cartilage or meniscus causing wasting, weakness or minor instability. |
| Moderate (b)(ii) | Up to £13,740 | An injury such as a laceration, twisting or bruising resulting in continual discomfort and aching will justify an award toward the top of this bracket. |
Special Damages
Special damages award for the monetary losses associated with the avoidable harm you experienced. Costs that could be reimbursed as part of your compensation include:
- Lost income due to time taken off work.
- Travel costs if you are unable to drive.
- Domestic care and support, such as food preparation or cleaning if you cannot safely do these yourself.
- Prescriptions, physical therapy or other out-of-pocket medical bills.
In order to prove hospital negligence resulted in you incurring financial losses, you will need to submit evidence. Retain copies of any transport tickets, receipts, invoices and your payslips to prove the losses occurred.
We would like to emphasise that the compensation amounts we have provided in this section are intended to offer guidance only. For a more specific estimate of what your potential claim could be worth, please contact our team today on the number given below.
How Working With A No Win No Fee Solicitor Could Help You Prove Medical Negligence
Following a free assessment of your eligibility to begin a claim, our advisors could put you in touch with one of our solicitors if they decide you have valid grounds to proceed. One of our solicitors could then offer to take your claim under a Conditional Fee Agremeent (CFA).
A CFA is a specific type of No Win No Fee contract that presents notable benefits to claimants. Generally speaking, there are no fees to pay the solicitor for their service at the start of the claims process or as your claim moves forward. You will also not incur a fee for the work done by the solicitor on your case should the claim fail.
If you prove hospital negligence occurred and this leads to a successful medical negligence claim, you will receive compensation. The solicitor will deduct a legally capped percentage of this compensation before sending the rest to you. This is referred to as the success fee. The cap means that you will keep most of your awarded compensation.
You can speak to our advisors at any time with questions or concerns or to get a free assessment of your particular circumstances and eligibility to begin a claim. You can reach our team via the following:
- Call on 0800 073 8801
- Complete our online “Contact Us” form via this link
- Use the live chat function at the bottom of the screen for fast answers to your questions.
Related Guides On How To Prove Hospital Negligence
See some of our medical negligence claims guides here
- Being discharged prematurely when you should have remained in hospital can have serious health consequences. Find out more here.
- Read our guide about claiming for delays in treatment.
- Learn about when you could be eligible to start a medical negligence claim following a medication error.
We have also provided some more external resources that may be of use to you
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published detailed guidance on emergency care, which you can see here.
- You can learn more about the NHS Patient Advice and Liason Service (PALS) using this webpage.
- The Government has released this guidance on healthcare related infections.
We’d like to thank you for taking the time to read our guide on how to prove hospital negligence claims. Our dedicated and experienced team is available 24/7 to address any concerns you may have, provide further insight into the claims process, or assess your eligibility to begin a claim. You can contact our advisors using any of the details given above.
