How To Make Surgery Compensation Claims

Millions of people undergo surgeries every year in the UK, and the demand for general surgery is only increasing. But what do you do if your surgery goes wrong?

In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about surgery compensation claims, from eligibility to funding the services of a solicitor.

Key Takeaways In Surgery Compensation Claims

  • You can claim against NHS surgeons and surgeons in the private sector
  • You can claim if medical negligence occurred
  • You can claim on someone else’s behalf as a litigation friend
  • You can fund the work of a solicitor through a No Win No Fee arrangement

Keep reading to find out if you could claim compensation for surgical negligence. Or, get in touch today to speak to one of our friendly advisors:

Surgeons perform surgical procedures on a patient in an operating room

Jump To A Section

  1. Can I Make A Surgery Compensation Claim?
  2. How Can An Operation Go Wrong?
  3. What To Do If You Suffered Harm Due To A Surgical Error
  4. How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Surgical Negligence?
  5. Time Limits In Surgery Negligence Claims
  6. Make No Win No Fee Surgical Negligence Claims
  7. Learn More

Can I Make A Surgery Compensation Claim?

The very first step in the claims process is making sure that you have a valid case. To do this, you need to establish whether or not medical negligence occurred. But what is medical negligence?

You’re likely to have a valid claim if you can prove that:

  • A medical professional owed you a duty of care
  • They breached this duty
  • This caused avoidable harm

When these three factors come together, they form medical negligence.

When a medical professional or healthcare institute agree to treat you i.e. you become their patient, they automatically owe you a duty of care. To fulfil this duty they must ensure that the service and treatment they provide meets the expected standard of a competent practitioner.

Each medical professional will have responsibilities they have to adhere to, for example, surgeons should follow the standards and guidance set out by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Can I Claim Against A Private Hospital?

With NHS waiting times rising, more and more people are choosing to have their surgeries in private hospitals. But if something goes wrong, it doesn’t matter whether you were in an NHS hospital or a private facility; your right to compensation remains the same.

Our advisors are here to help. If you’d like to learn more about making surgery compensation claims, get in touch today. Or, keep reading to find out how medical negligence could occur in the operating room.

How Can An Operation Go Wrong?

There are many ways that medical negligence can occur during surgery. For example:

  • An underqualified surgeon performs your surgery. Because they lack the skills to execute the procedure properly, they damage the nerves in your spine, leaving you paralysed.
  • You need to have your foot amputated. Despite having the right foot clearly marked for amputation, your surgeon amputated the left, which is completely healthy.
  • You are not given enough anaesthetic during your operation. This causes you to wake up, resulting in physical pain as well as severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

If you can’t see your case reflected here, that doesn’t mean you can’t claim; contact our team today to learn more, or read on to find out how surgery compensation claims are made.

Surgeons perform wrong site surgery with bloody gloves

What To Do If You Suffered Harm Due To A Surgical Error

If you think you’ve been a victim of surgical negligence, the first thing you should do is talk to a legal professional. There’s no obligation to make a claim with a solicitor, but it’s highly recommended.

If you talk to a solicitor, they’ll likely tell you that one of the most important steps in the whole claims process is collecting evidence. This is because your claim hinges on being able to prove that medical negligence occurred.

Causation is an important part of this. This essentially means that you need to prove the harm you suffered was caused by a breach of the medical professional’s duty of care.

For example, if you had a recorded allergy to a certain anaesthetic but they administered the drug anyway, this would cause an allergic reaction. To prove causation in this case, you could provide your medical records which state that you had a known allergy, and that the drug was administered anyway.

To learn more about proving surgery compensation claims, contact our team of friendly advisors today.

How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Surgical Negligence?

So, how much compensation could you get for a surgery negligence claim? This can depend on a number of things, because compensation is valued on an individual, case-to-case basis.

For example, you could get more or less compensation depending on how severely you are harmed. You can see this illustrated in the table below, which uses guideline figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). More severe injuries garner more compensation, but this isn’t the only thing that affects how much you receive.

This table focuses on general damages, which is one of two potential heads of claim. Please note that the first entry is not from the JCG, and none of these figures are guaranteed.

InjuryCompensation
Multiple instances of severe harm, valued alongside monetary losses, including lost wagesUp to £1,000,000+
Very Severe Brain Damage£344,150 to £493,000
Moderately Severe Brain Damage£267,340 to £344,150
Kidney Injuries (a)£206,730 to £256,780
Severe Back Injuries (i)£111,150 to £196,450
Severe Back Injuries (ii)£90,510 to £107,910
Severe PTSD£73,050 to £122,850
Very Severe Facial Scarring£36,340 to £118,790
Scarring With No Significant Internal InjuryIn the region of £10,550

Special Damages In Surgery Compensation Claims

Another factor that can affect how much you get in compensation is whether or not you had any financial losses. Surgical errors can have serious consequences, for example, you may need to use a mobility scooter for the rest of your life, or you may be unable to continue working.

These can become significant financial burdens that you wouldn’t have to deal with if the negligence hadn’t occurred. Because of this, you can recoup these costs under special damages, which is the second potential head of claim that you could receive.

This heading can help you cover the cost of things like past and future lost earnings, childcare, and prescriptions.

Our advisors can give you more advice on how compensation is valued in medical negligence cases. Contact us today to learn more.

A black surgical negligence compensation claims calculator

Time Limits In Surgery Negligence Claims

Usually, there is a three-year time limit for starting surgery negligence compensation claims, as set out in the Limitation Act 1980. This starts on the date of your surgery or on the date you realised or would have been expected to realise you had suffered medical negligence.

It’s important to remember that the time limit changes slightly for those under the age of eighteen and those who lack the mental capacity to make their own medical negligence claims; this is because, in both of these cases, the claim could be handled by a litigation friend.

Make No Win No Fee Surgical Negligence Claims

A No Win No Fee agreement is a contract that helps you fund the services of a solicitor. As we’ve already mentioned, you aren’t legally required to use a solicitor when you claim; however, we highly recommend seeking legal advice before starting proceedings.

Our panel of solicitors all work on a No Win No Fee basis. They use a popular form of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which allows them to provide their expert services without taking any fees unless you win.

That means you pay nothing for their work upfront, as the claim goes on, or at all if your surgery claim fails. If you win, then your solicitor will take a success fee, which is a small, legally-capped percentage of your compensation.

Not only do our panel of experts have decades of combined experience in securing compensation for their clients, but they’re also highly trained in medical negligence law.

If you choose to work with a solicitor from our panel, then they will be with you every step of the way. Not only will they work tirelessly behind the scenes to get you the medical negligence compensation you deserve, but they can also help with your recovery.

Our panel work with a range of occupational therapists, disability specialists, counsellors and more, so while your solicitor works hard on your claim, you can focus on recovering.

Contact Our Team

Are you ready to find out if a specialist medical negligence solicitor from our panel could help you? Get in touch today:

Two medical negligence solicitors discuss surgical error claims while sitting at a desk

Learn More

To get more information on making a medical negligence claim:

Or, to find more resources:

Thank you for reading our guide on surgery compensation claims.