If you’ve been harmed by substandard medical care — whether from the NHS or a private provider — you may be entitled to make a clinical negligence claim. This covers incorrect diagnosis, a delayed diagnosis, a surgical or treatment error, incorrect medication or dosage, or a failure to warn you of material risks before a procedure. Adam Bernard Solicitors works with independent medical experts to assess whether your case meets the legal test for a claim, and handles eligible cases on a no win no fee basis.
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What Counts as Clinical Negligence?
A clinical negligence claim requires two things to be proven: breach of duty, and causation. It isn’t enough that your treatment had a poor outcome — medicine carries inherent risk, and not every bad result means a mistake was made.
- Breach of duty — the treatment you received fell below the standard a reasonably competent professional in that field would have provided. Courts assess this against what a responsible body of medical opinion would support, not against a standard of perfection.
- Causation — the substandard care must have actually caused or materially worsened your injury. If the same harm would have happened regardless of any error, a claim is unlikely to succeed, however clearly something went wrong procedurally.
This two-part test is why clinical negligence claims typically take independent medical expert evidence to assess properly, rather than being judged on the outcome alone.
Common Types of Clinical Negligence Claims
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis — including cancer, sepsis, stroke, and fractures missed or diagnosed late
- Surgical errors — wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, avoidable complications during a procedure
- Birth injuries — to mother or baby, caused by inadequate monitoring or delayed intervention
- Medication errors — incorrect drug, dosage, or a failure to check for known allergies or interactions
- Failure to obtain informed consent — not being warned of material risks before agreeing to treatment
- A&E and emergency care failures — inadequate assessment or delayed treatment in urgent situations
- Care home and nursing negligence — pressure sores, falls, and medication mismanagement
Can You Claim Against the NHS or Only Private Care?
Both. Claims against NHS hospitals and trusts are handled through NHS Resolution, the body that manages litigation on behalf of the NHS in England. Claims against private hospitals, clinics, and practitioners follow broadly the same legal test but are pursued against the provider’s own indemnity insurer instead. Either way, the same standard applies: was the care given reasonable, and did any failure cause the harm you’ve suffered.
How Long Do You Have to Claim?
You generally have three years to bring a clinical negligence claim — but the clock often doesn’t start on the date of treatment. Instead, it usually runs from your “date of knowledge”: the point at which you first realised, or reasonably should have realised, that your injury was significant and potentially linked to the care you received. This distinction matters a great deal in cases where harm only becomes apparent well after the treatment itself, such as a missed diagnosis that isn’t discovered until a later scan or referral.
There are further exceptions:
- Children — the three-year limit doesn’t start until their 18th birthday, giving until their 21st birthday to claim
- Protected parties — where someone lacks the mental capacity to bring a claim themselves, the time limit may not run at all while that remains the case
- Fatal cases — a claim can be brought on behalf of the estate or dependants, generally within three years of the death or of it becoming apparent that negligence contributed to it
What Compensation Can You Claim?
Clinical negligence compensation typically covers:
- General damages — for pain, suffering, and loss of amenity caused by the negligent care
- Special damages — past and future loss of earnings, the cost of further treatment or corrective surgery, ongoing care and support needs, and adapted accommodation or equipment where a serious injury has lasting effects
Because clinical negligence cases often involve long-term or life-changing harm, valuing a claim properly usually requires expert evidence not just on what went wrong, but on prognosis and future needs.
A Note on Costs and Reform
Clinical negligence claims currently proceed without the fixed-cost limits that apply to some other personal injury claims, which is one reason cases are handled carefully and with expert input from the outset rather than rushed. The government has proposed introducing fixed recoverable costs for lower-value clinical negligence claims (broadly those valued under £25,000), but as of 2026 this remains under consultation and is not yet in force. We monitor developments in this area closely, as any change would affect how lower-value claims are best approached.
Our Clinical Negligence Claims Process
- Free initial consultation — we listen to what happened and explain whether it’s worth pursuing further
- Independent medical assessment — we instruct medical experts to assess whether the care fell below the required standard and whether it caused your injury
- No win no fee agreement — offered where a case meets the threshold for a viable claim
- Formal letter of claim — sent to the NHS trust or private provider, who must investigate and respond
- Negotiation or litigation — most claims settle through negotiation; where they don’t, we represent you through court proceedings
Why Choose Adam Bernard Solicitors?
- Our solicitors work with a network of independent medical experts to properly assess clinical negligence claims before taking them on
- A consistent track record of successful outcomes for our clients, backed by client testimonials
- Cases taken on a no win no fee basis wherever possible — you pay nothing unless we win your compensation
- Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No: 598171, 656730)
- Offices in High Holborn, Central London and Upton Park, East London, with 24/7 phone contact and free video consultations
Get in touch with our expert Solicitors today.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A claim requires the care to have fallen below a reasonable professional standard, and for that failure to have caused or worsened the harm. A poor outcome from properly delivered treatment isn't, on its own, negligence.
Generally three years, but usually from your "date of knowledge" that the injury was significant and potentially linked to your treatment, rather than the treatment date itself. Different rules apply for children and those lacking mental capacity.
Potentially, if you only became aware of the link between your injury and the earlier treatment more recently. This is assessed case by case, so it's worth getting advice even if some time has passed.
You'll need access to them for your solicitor and independent medical expert to review, but you don't need to gather them yourself first — we can request them on your behalf once instructed.
These claims typically take longer than other personal injury claims because of the medical evidence required, often a year or more, and longer still for complex or high-value cases that don't settle early.
Initial consultations are free, and we take on eligible clinical negligence claims on a no win no fee basis, so there's no upfront cost and you only pay if your claim is successful.
Yes. The same legal test applies, but the claim is pursued against the private provider's indemnity insurer rather than NHS Resolution.
