How To Make A Complaint About An Unnecessary Surgery And Get Compensation

Last Updated On 28th October 2024. This guide will outline how to make a complaint about unnecessary surgery, covering the different approaches you might take depending on who provided the care. As well as having the right to make a complaint, you may also be able to seek compensation in a medical negligence claim. Within this guide, we examine who could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim after having surgery that they didn’t need.

Additionally, this guide explores what unnecessary surgery is, including how you may suffer harm. We will also discuss how a legal professional may work out how much your medical negligence claim could be worth.

Finally, we outline why it can be beneficial to work with a No Win No Fee solicitor, should you want expert advice. Contact one of our advisors today to see if you’re eligible to claim due to surgical negligence by:

Browse Our Guide

  1. How To Make A Complaint About An Unnecessary Surgery
  2. Can You Take Legal Action For Harm Caused By Unnecessary Surgery?
  3. Calculating Payouts For Unnecessary Surgery
  4. Check If You Could Claim Compensation For Unnecessary Surgery With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
  5. Find Out More About How To Make A Complaint About An Unnecessary Surgery

How To Make A Complaint About An Unnecessary Surgery

The question of how to make a complaint about an unnecessary surgery requires different answers depending on where you received treatment. You could have received medical attention from different care providers, and in each instance, who you contact and how you complain may differ.

Below are some of the bodies you could complain to:

Can You Take Legal Action For Harm Caused By Unnecessary Surgery?

If you were wondering how to make a complaint about unnecessary surgery, you might also want to know when you can make a medical negligence claim. Medical professionals owe you a duty of care. Within this duty, they must ensure that they provide you with the correct standard of care; otherwise, they could be liable for any avoidable harm you may suffer.

To be eligible to make a medical negligence claim, you must meet the below criteria:

  • That you were owed a duty of care
  • This duty of care was breached
  • You suffered harm that would have been avoided had the breach not occurred

One of our solicitors could assist if you have a valid surgical negligence claim and help advise what you should include in your complaint letter. Contact our team of advisors now for a free case assessment.

Examples Of Unnecessary Surgery

Unnecessary surgery is when a patient has a surgical procedure that they did not need. This can happen for different reasons, and we shall explore these below. What is important to remember is that if a patient has unnecessary surgery because a medical professional breached their duty of care and provided a substandard service, then this patient may have the right to seek compensation whether they suffer further harm or not.

  • Due to a negligent misdiagnosis, a patient has an operation they did not need.
  • Following a mix-up of patient files, you suffer a leg amputation that wasn’t required
  • Despite there being less intrusive options, a patient is only given the option of surgery. They undergo surgery, leaving a scarring injury that could have been avoided

Contact our advisors today to find out the validity of your medical negligence claim. They could advise you on how to make a complaint about an unnecessary surgery and forward your case details to one of our solicitors if you have an eligible surgical negligence case.

Surgical Negligence Claim Time Limits

To make a medical negligence claim, you must comply with the Limitation Act 1980 time limits in addition to the above criteria. Normally, you have three years from the date of your incident to begin a medical negligence claim.

However, if you couldn’t have known your surgery was unnecessary until later, the time limit will begin from the date of knowledge. This is when you became aware of (or would have been expected to have known about) the unnecessary surgery you experienced.

There are exceptions to this general rule. To learn more about medical negligence claim time limits, contact one of our advisors today.

Calculating Payouts For Unnecessary Surgery

If you succeeded in your medical negligence claim, you could be awarded up to two heads of claim.

General damages are the first. They address the physical pain and mental suffering you’ve experienced due to negligent care, and always appear in any surgical negligence payout.

In the table below, we have looked at incidents where the unnecessary surgery has gone on to cause further harm, however, just being subject to a surgical procedure you haven’t needed is injury and harm within itself.

A legal professional may seek guidance from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help assign a value to your surgical negligence claim. The JCG is a document that takes compensation brackets and attaches them to injury and suffering, depending on the type and severity. A legal professional will also use your medical report, as they could compare your case with details in the JCG.

Compensation Table

Below is a table of guidance amounts from the JCG for different types of harm. However, please note that we cannot guarantee the degree of compensation you may receive because all cases are judged on their own merits. Please also note that the figure in the first row is not taken from the JCG.

InjuryCompensation GuidelineNotes
Multiple Significant Cases of Harm And Financial DamageUp to £500,000+Compensation addressing different injuries or illnesses. It also accounts for care fees, medical costs, lost earnings and other losses.
Foot£206,730 to £245,900The amputation of both feet, losing both ankle joints.
£102,470 to £133,810Amputation of a single foot, leading to the loss of that ankle joint.
Leg Amputation£127,930 to £167,760The amputation of one leg, above the knee, with the level of award dependent on factors like severity of pain and psychological problems.
£119,570 to £162,290A below the knee amputation of one leg, with the level of compensation awarded depending on similar factors as that of an amputation above the knee.
Bladder£78,080 to £97,540Serious impairment of control, including some incontinence and pain.
£28,570 to £38,210Some fairly long term natural function interference but where an almost complete recovery is expected.
Bowels£54,420 to £85,100Severe abdominal injury causing impairment of function and often necessitating temporary colostomy.
£15,370 to £29,870Penetrating injuries causing some permanent damage.
KidneyUp to £78,080Future infection or total function loss is a significant risk.

Compensation For Financial Losses

In the previous section, we covered the pain and suffering that negligent care could lead to. However, many people find that there is also an impact on their finances.

For this reason, it is possible to claim unnecessary surgery compensation for special damages, which account for the financial aspect of a negligence claim.

It is not unheard of for special damages to account for the majority of your unnecessary surgery claim payout, especially if a negligent surgical error prevents you from going back to work.

Examples of losses that you could seek a payment for include:

  • Lost earnings. This could account for time you miss while you recover, but it could alternatively consider future losses if you can’t go back to your job at all.
  • Travel expenses.
  • Medical fees.
  • Care costs if you need professional help at home.

Keep any receipts, payslips or invoices that help you prove that negligence directly resulted in these losses. Just call our advisors today if you want a more in-depth explanation of what you can seek compensation for.

Check If You Could Claim Compensation For Unnecessary Surgery With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

Consider the benefits of instructing a No Win No Fee legal professional under a Conditional Fee Agreement if you have an eligible medical negligence claim and want their expert advice. Doing so would mean:

  • You wouldn’t have to pay any upfront fees to appoint them
  • There wouldn’t be any fees to keep your file moving forwards
  • If your claim was unsuccessful, you wouldn’t have to pay for the service provided by the solicitor.
  • After a winning claim, you’d only pay a small percentage of the compensation awarded to you because of a legal cap.

Moreover, our solicitors have plenty of experience and expertise due to years of dealing with similar claims. They’d also only take your case if they thought you had a good chance of success. This means you can take comfort in knowing your medical negligence claim is in good hands.

To find out more on how to make a complaint about an unnecessary surgery and see if you can claim compensation, contact one of our advisors now by:

  • Calling us on 0800 073 8804.
  • Dropping your details in our Contact Us form.
  • Speaking with us without leaving this page by using the live chat button.

Find Out More About How To Make A Complaint About An Unnecessary Surgery

We hope this guide has answered your questions on how to make a complaint about an unnecessary surgery. For more of our helpful articles, please look below.

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