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How Much Compensation Can You Get For Clinical Negligence?
What is clinical negligence?
Clinical negligence is the broad term used to describe mistakes, accidents and substandard care administered by medical staff, in both the NHS and private healthcare. It includes any medical treatment whether it is provided at hospitals, GP surgeries, health centres or even at home.
A list of the common types of negligence can be found on our Clinical Negligence Claims main page.
How is clinical negligence compensation calculated?
If your claim for clinical negligence is successful you will be entitled to damages to compensate you for any losses directly attributable to the negligent treatment. Clinical negligence compensation is broken down into two categories – general and special damages:
General Damages: Money awarded to the injured person to compensate them for the pain and suffering that they have experienced due to the negligent treatment received. This is also known as pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
The level of general damages depends upon the extent of the injuries or illness, and the impact this has had on quality of life.
Medical records and independent medical expert evidence will be used to determine the extent of the injuries and any prognosis (i.e. what the future may hold for the injured person).. This will allow us to assess an appropriate level of compensation for general damages.
Special Damages: These are awarded to compensate for any out of pocket expenses that have been incurred as a result of the negligence. This includes losses which have been sustained from the date in which the negligent treatment took place and extend to also include any future financial losses that you are likely to suffer as a result of any negligence.
Special damages include:
- Loss of earnings
- Care and assistance
- Medical expenses
- Travel expenses
- Home and vehicle adaptations
- Rehabilitation costs
Special damages which cover past losses will need to be proven through receipts and payslips or annual tax returns to show the loss of earnings or expenses incurred. Future losses will be calculated following consideration of independent expert evidence assessing the future impact of the injuries suffered.
What is the average payout for a medical negligence claim?
The amount of compensation you will receive for a clinical negligence claim depends on a number of different factors including:
- The extent of your physical pain (known as pain suffering and loss of amenity).
- The severity of your injuries or illness caused by the negligence.
- Reasonable expenses incurred as a result of the negligent treatment.
- Current and future income loss.
- Any home or car adaptations required.
Your clinical negligence solicitor will take all of the above into consideration when quantifying your claim.
Clinical negligence pay-outs vary dramatically, compensation amounts can be anything from around a few thousand pounds to as high as several million. It is therefore difficult to say what your settlement will be, as each and every claim is unique. Read our guide on how much compensation you can get for clinical negligence for more information.
How long will it take for my claim to settle?
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 special damages. Straightforward clinical negligence claims may settle within a year, whereas complex cases may take several years.
How much will it cost me to make a claim?
Most clinical negligence claims are handled on a No Win, No Fee basis. This means that you only need to pay legal fees if your case is successful.
If your clinical negligence case is won you will pay us what is known as a ‘success fee’. This is limited to a maximum of 25% of the compensation amount obtained.
As we represent Clients on a No Win, No Fee basis, please note that True Solicitors will only take on your case if we believe that it has good prospects of success. If we do not consider this to be the case we will inform you of the reasons why and advise you that we would not be able to represent you.
Read our guide on how personal injury claims are funded for more information.
How do I make a clinical negligence claim?
If you believe you have suffered an illness or injury that was caused or made worse by negligent medical treatment, administered within the last three years, you could be entitled to make a claim.
Starting a claim is easy. Call our team of medical negligence solicitors today on 0344 854 7000 or fill in the enquiry form below and we will call you back to discuss your case.
Read our how to make a clinical negligence claim guide for further information.
