What is the Average Payout For Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence payouts will differ from one medical negligence case to another. This is because medical negligence cases are also different from one another. The injury an individual sustained as a result of medical negligence in one case will most likely be different from that of another negligence victim. 

Also, the estimated time for recovery, the financial implications as well as costs for further treatment most often differ from one medical negligence claim to another. This affects the amount of compensation in medical negligence cases.

Medical negligence payout figures can therefore range from £1,000 to several millions of pounds depending on the specifics of each case. However, according to the NHS Resolution, the average payout for medical negligence in the UK is £50,000. The biggest compensation payout in the UK is £24million which was awarded to a woman who suffered a catastrophic brain injury following an operation blunder rendering her disabled for life.

Using our medical negligence NHS calculator, medical negligence specialist solicitors can give you a realistic idea of what you can expect as your NHS negligence payouts.

What Is Medical Negligence?

The term medical negligence also known as clinical negligence describes all actions or inactions and substandard care of medical professionals in discharging their duty of care towards their patients which falls below the acceptable standards of medical practice and leads to avoidable pain, injury or complications for the patient.

The effects of medical negligence can range from minor to very severe health issues and sometimes death of the patient. This is why it is important that medical professionals ensure that they fulfill their duty of care towards their patients as any negligent treatment can be very devastating.

If you or your loved one has suffered as a result of medical negligence, you may be able to make a compensation claim and take legal actions against the medical professional or the health facility involved.

Why Should I Make A Medical Negligence Compensation Claim?

There are different reasons why one should make a negligence claim. For one, it gives you something to hold on to after a traumatic event. With your medical negligence payout, you will not only be able to take care of your financial needs, you will also be able to access quality medical treatment vital for your recovery. If you have had to give up work as a result of the injury suffered, the compensation you receive will help ensure that you do not suffer financially as a result of the unfortunate incident.

The aim of awarding medical negligence payouts is therefore to aid the victim of negligence so that the individual can as much as possible get back to the state he or she was before the incident happened.

Additionally, when medical negligence claims are made against health facilities including the NHS, it provides an opportunity for them to make necessary internal investigations and make adequate improvements so that there is no repetition of the negligent treatment the claimant suffered.

Medical Negligence Cases

There are several medical negligence cases which may give an individual strong grounds to make a medical negligence claim. When these negligent treatments occur, the results can be life altering and debilitating. They include;

• Wrong diagnosis, failure to diagnose or late diagnosis
• Delayed or incorrect treatment
• Surgical errors including avoidable injury to internal organs, performing surgery on the wrong body site or retained instrument inside the patient
• Anaesthesia errors
• Negligent treatment during prenatal period, childbirth and postnatal period leading to complications to mother and/or child
• Failure of the GP to refer a patient to a specialist for expert medical attention or negligently delaying to do so
• Failing to carry out vital tests or unnecessary delays in doing so
• Development of pressure sores as a result of leaving a patient unattended to in one position
• Failing to properly monitor the progress of a patient in admission

• Contracting hospital transmitted infections such as bacterial infections, viral infections, surgical wound infections, or skin and soft tissue infections

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Different Medical Negligence Claims We Handle

As we have pointed out, medical negligence payouts in the UK vary from one negligence claim to another. There are different medical negligence claims we undertake and the payouts for each claim differs from the other. 

However, during our consultation sessions with you, we will discuss your claims and use our medical negligence claim calculator to give you an idea of what your medical negligence payouts will be.

Some of the medical negligence claims we handle include the following-

• Child Birth Injury Claims
• Cancer misdiagnosis claims
• Surgical Negligence claims
• Hospital negligence claims
• Care home negligence claims
• Brain injury claims
• Doctor Negligence claims
• Dental negligence claims
• Cauda Equina negligence claims
• Allergic reaction negligence claims
• Fertility negligence claims
• Failed Sterilization negligence claims
• Accident and Emergency negligence claims
• Cosmetic negligence claims

How To Make A Claim Against A Hospital?

Before talking about what your medical negligence payouts might be, it is important to briefly discuss how you can make your claims against a private hospital or the NHS for a deserved compensation.

Making claims against a medical professional or a health establishment requires that you establish that indeed a medical negligence occurred and that you or your loved one who you are representing suffered directly as a result.

What this means is that you have to demonstrate two key events which are-

• Liability
• Causation

Liability

All medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This means that they have the responsibility to care for them and ensure that they get the best possible medical care. They are expected to make decisions and take actions in the best interest of their patients.

Therefore, in demonstrating liability, you have to show that your medical professional owed you a duty of care but breached that duty of care. You have to show that your medical professional failed in his responsibility to provide you the right standard of care expected from a professional in that situation.

Causation

Demonstrating liability alone is not enough. You have to establish the fact that the negligent treatment of your medical professional is the proximate cause of your suffering, pain, trauma or injury. This is very vital in winning your claims and getting a favorable compensation payout. Additionally, demonstrating damages you have suffered as a result of the negligence caused injury will further strengthen your claim for compensation.

You may not only suffer physical injury, you may also suffer financially, socially and psychologically. Establishing a causal link between liability and your injury and the subsequent damages is key to getting a deserved medical negligence payout.

Documents you will need to support your claims and strengthen your case include;

• Detailed statements of all that transpired
• Medical reports, test and scan results,
• Witness statements which could be close friends or family
• Photographs showing severity of damage
• Proof of financial losses and out of pocket expenses due to the injury suffered.

Furthermore, a medical report from an independent medical expert assigned to perform a thorough medical examination on you will further boost your chances of a successful compensation claim.

Medical Negligence Claim Process

The medical negligence claims process involves the following stages as outlined below-

• Speak with your medical negligence solicitor
• Fund your medical negligence claim
• Gather your evidence
• Submit a letter of claim and establish liability
• Register your claims in court
• Agree a suitable compensation fee and payment

Our medical negligence claims London solicitors and in other parts of the UK are some of the best medical negligence solicitors to handle your medical negligence claim. We have over 30years of medical negligence claims experience and have undertaken different medical negligence claims for people from different backgrounds, race and ideologies.

We offer a free consultation session for all our clients where we will discuss their claims and professionally determine if they have strong grounds to make claims. We will then offer free legal advice and assist them to gather evidence to support their claims. We ensure that our clients are well supported throughout the entire claims process starting from the initial investigations until a settlement fee is agreed. We understand how difficult such times must be for our clients and so we ensure that the claims process is not burdensome in any way to you but smooth and stress-free for you.

Our solicitors are friendly, understanding, empathetic and very professional; you can be rest assured that you will receive the best legal representation from competent medical negligence lawyers. What is more, we operate on a strict no win no fee policy which allows you to make claims without any financial implications to you.

Medical Negligence Payout Calculator

When making claims, you can claim for certain damages which will influence your medical negligence payout. These are 

• General damages which covers the type of injury suffered, location of injury and the severity of the injury.
• Special damages– these vary very much from case to case and covers for costs of medical appointments, estimated time of recovery, other financial expenses as a result of the injury, accommodation adjustment costs, costs of rehabilitation, therapy and hiring of caregivers among others as is peculiar to your case.

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Medical Negligence Compensation Payouts Guide

In giving answers to people who have asked questions like “how much compensation will i get for medical negligence?” Here is a guide on what you can expect as your medical negligence payout for general damages as stipulated by the Judicial College Guidelines. 

Severity Of Injury	Range Of Compensation Payout
Severe injury to internal organs	From £60,000 to £100,000 depending on how severe the injury is
Severe brain Injury	£180,000 to £300,000 depending on how serious the damage is.
Negligence leading to Pelvic and Hip injury	Compensation payout ranges between £50,000 to £85,000
Pain and suffering	Compensation for pain and suffering can fall anywhere between £1,000 to £200,000 depending on how severe it is
Severe neck injuries	Serious fractures or damage to discs in the cervical spine. £61,710 to £122,860
Severe foot injuries	Compensation for a broken foot range from £39,390 to £65,710
knee injury compensation amounts	Chronic minor symptoms- £5,680 to £12,900 Major injuries such as dislocated knee- £13,920 to £24,580
Amputations – Leg	Loss of Both Legs- £225,960 to £264,650
Amputations – Arm	Loss of Both Arms- £225,960 to £281,520
Death	average payout for medical negligence resulting in death range from £12,000 to £300,000
Spinal cord injuries	£50,000 to £300,000 for moderate and less severe £1 million for very severe cases
Dental Injuries	£1,020 to £1600 for minor damaged teeth
Scarring	Compensation for scarring are; £1,600 to £3,310 for minor scarring £3,710 to £12,900 for moderate scare £8,550 to £28,240 for moderately severe scare Visible and very severe disfigurement- £16,860 to £91,350
Psychiatric Damage	Less Severe psychiatric cases- £1,440 to £5,500 Moderate psychiatric cases – £5,500 to £17,900 Moderately Severe psychiatric cases- £17,900 to £51,460

Medical Negligence Claim Time Limit In The UK

Normally, you will have only three years from the date of your medical negligence to make a claim. On the other hand, the time frame can be counted from when you first noticed the negligent treatment. This is according to the Limitation Act of 1980. The exceptions to this rule are for claims which involve children and those who are mentally or physically incapacitated and unable to make claims for themselves.

In both cases, a litigation friend who may be a parent, child or other family member can make a claim on their behalf.

Our solicitors are on hand to explain to you better how this works.