Delayed Broken Arm Surgery – Can I Claim Compensation For Medical Negligence?

This guide will explore when you could be eligible to begin a medical negligence claim after experiencing unnecessary harm due to delayed broken arm surgery. In the guide, we will discuss the eligibility criteria that need to be met, the time limits for starting legal proceedings and the evidence you could gather to support your case.

delayed broken arm surgery

Delayed Broken Arm Surgery – Can I Claim Compensation For Medical Negligence?

Additionally, we will discuss how a medical professional could breach the duty of care they owed you and cause you to experience harm that could have otherwise been avoided.

We will also discuss the compensation you could be awarded to address the way you have been affected by the harm you experienced.

Finally, we will discuss the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor and the services they could offer.

If you have any questions after reading, you can get in touch with an advisor. They can offer free advice regarding your potential claim. To get in touch, you can:

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Can I Claim For Delayed Broken Arm Surgery?

Medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients. This duty entails providing patients with the correct standard of care.

The ways in which a medical professional is expected to uphold their duty of care may vary depending on their specific discipline. For example, the General Medical Council (GMC) provides guidance on good medical practice for doctors. Additionally, the Royal College of Nursing sets out the duty of care that nurses owe.

If a medical professional breaches the duty of care they owe by providing care that falls below the expected standard and you experience unnecessary harm, this is known as medical negligence.

If you can demonstrate that medical negligence led to delayed broken arm surgery, you may be eligible to seek compensation.

Time Limits

In general, the time limit to begin a medical negligence claim is three years from the date that a medical professional failed to uphold their duty of care causing you avoidable harm. However, it can also begin from the date you became aware of medical negligence. This is known as the date of knowledge.

Additionally, there are some exceptions to the time limit, such as for children and for those who lack the mental capacity to claim. In both of these instances, the time limit is suspended. This gives a suitable adult time to apply to the courts to act as a litigation friend on the person’s behalf.

If this is not done while the time limit is paused for a child, they will have three years from the date of their 18th birthday to begin their own claim. Similarly, if no claim is made for a person who lacks the mental capacity to claim, they will have three years from the date of recovery if they recover their mental capacity.

For more information on the exceptions to the time limit and to find out how long you have to claim, get in touch on the number above. An advisor can also provide further guidance on when you could be eligible to seek medical negligence compensation.

Are Delays To Surgery Negligent?

Delays in treatment are not always as a result of medical negligence. In order to begin a claim for delayed broken arm surgery, you need to prove that a medical professional provided substandard care and caused you harm that was unnecessary as a result.

There are various ways delayed treatment could occur. For example, a doctor sends you for an X-ray but misinterprets the scans. As a result, you are incorrectly diagnosed with a sprain instead of a broken bone which requires surgery. This means there is a delay in you receiving surgery, causing your condition to worsen.

If you have experienced a delay in surgery and this has caused you unnecessary harm, get in touch on the number above to find out whether you could be eligible to seek compensation.

Evidence Supporting Delayed Surgery Claims

Collecting evidence is key to preparing a medical negligence compensation claim. Evidence can help to prove that medical negligence occurred. Examples of what you could collect include:

  • Medical reports
  • X-ray scans
  • Pictures of the harm you sustained
  • Letter of diagnosis
  • A copy of your treatment plan
  • A diary of your treatment and symptoms

If you are struggling to collect sufficient evidence to support your claim, you could benefit from working with a solicitor from our panel. They have experience handling claims of this nature and could help build and present your case in full.

To find out whether you could be eligible to have a solicitor represent your case, please get in touch on the number above.

Compensation Payouts For Delayed Broken Arm Surgery

If your claim succeeds, your settlement could include compensation for the pain and suffering you have experienced due to medical negligence. This can be awarded under general damages. Consideration is given to both the physical and emotional impact on your life.

Solicitors can use the report from an independent medical assessment and the guideline compensation brackets from the Judicial College Guidelines to help them calculate the value of this head of claim. The table below includes some of these figures. However, you should only use them as a guide because each settlement will differ depending on the specific circumstances of your case.

Compensation Table

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Harm Severity Guideline Compensation Bracket Notes
Arm Amputation Loss of both arms (a) £240,790 to £300,000 The person is reduced to a state of helplessness which is considerable in nature.
Arm Amputation Loss of one arm (b) (i) Not less than £137,160 The arm is amputated at the shoulder.
Arm Amputation Loss of one arm (b) (ii) £109,650 to £130,930 Arm is amputated above the elbow.
Arm Amputation Loss of one arm (b) (i) £96,160 to £109,650 Arm is amputated below the elbow.
Other Arm Injuries Severe (a) £96,160 to £130,930 Injuries such as a serious brachial plexus injury.
Other Arm Injuries Permanent and Substantial Disablement (b) £39,170 to £59,860 Both or one forearm is fractured causing a significant and permanent disability.
Other Arm Injuries Less Severe (c) £19,200 to £39,170 A substantial degree of recovery has occurred or will be expected.
Other Arm Injuries Simple (d) £6,610 to £19,200 The forearm sustains a simple fracture.

Could Special Damages Also Compensate You?

You could be compensated for any financial losses caused by the medical negligence. This is awarded under special damages. Examples of the monetary costs you could be reimbursed for include:

  • Costs of travel to and from medical appointments
  • The cost of domestic care
  • Medical bills
  • Present or future loss of earnings.

To collect special damages, you must provide evidence of your outgoing spending. As such, it can be beneficial to hold onto travel tickets, receipts and payslips to support your claim.

For an accurate estimate of what your claim could be worth, please contact our advisors on the number above.

Start Your Delayed Surgery Claim

The solicitors from our panel have experience handling medical negligence claims for delayed broken arm surgery. If your claim is eligible, they could offer you a kind of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement.

In general, the terms of this agreement state that:

  • You will not need to pay your solicitor for their services as your case is ongoing or at the beginning of your claim.
  • You will not owe your solicitor for the work they have completed on your claim if it is not successful.

If you successfully claim compensation, however, you will need to give your solicitor a small success fee from your compensation. This fee is capped by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.

Contact Us

We hope this guide on beginning a medical negligence claim for delayed broken arm surgery has helped. However, if you have any other questions, you can get in touch with an advisor. They can answer any questions regarding your eligibility, the time limits and how compensation is calculated. To get in touch, you can:

Learn More About Delayed Surgery Claims

Below, we have provided more of our medical negligence guides:

Additionally, we have provided some external resources:

Thank you for reading this guide on the process of seeking medical negligence compensation for delayed broken arm surgery. If you have any other questions, please get in touch using the contact details provided above.

Writer HG

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