If something went wrong with your medical care and you’re not sure what to do about it, you’re not alone. A lot of people have a nagging feeling that their treatment wasn’t right – but they’re not sure whether it amounts to negligence, or whether it’s even worth pursuing.
The truth is, medical negligence claims are more common than most people realise, and they cover a much wider range of situations than you might expect. You don’t need to have suffered a dramatic surgical error to have a case. Sometimes it’s a missed diagnosis, a medication mistake, or a referral that never happened when it should have.
Taking on the NHS or a private healthcare provider feels daunting – that’s completely understandable. But knowing what the most common types of claims look like is a good place to start. This guide walks you through everything you need to know.
What Is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide the standard of care that a competent professional in their position would reasonably be expected to provide, and that failure causes harm to the patient.
There’s a two-part test. First, the care fell below the expected standard. Second, that substandard care caused harm that wouldn’t otherwise have occurred. Both parts need to be present. A bad outcome on its own isn’t negligence – medicine is complex, and not every procedure or treatment goes to plan. But when something goes wrong because of a failure in care, and you’re worse off as a result, that’s when negligence may apply.
Negligence can occur across all kinds of healthcare settings – NHS hospitals and GP surgeries, private clinics, dental practices, care homes and mental health services. It’s not limited to operating theatres.
Who Can Be Held Responsible?
Medical negligence isn’t just about hospitals. Claims can arise from the actions – or inactions – of:
- GPs and GP surgeries
- NHS hospitals and trusts
- Private hospitals and clinics
- Dentists
- Care homes
- Mental health services
In most cases, claims against NHS providers are handled by NHS Resolution, a government body set up specifically for that purpose.
What Are the Most Common Types of Medical Negligence Claims?
Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis
This is one of the most common types of claim we see. It covers situations where a condition was missed entirely, or where a correct diagnosis was significantly delayed.
Conditions commonly involved include cancer, heart disease, stroke and meningitis – illnesses where early diagnosis and treatment make a real difference to outcomes. A delayed diagnosis can be just as serious as a missed one, because the harm comes from the time lost in receiving the right treatment. Symptoms that were repeatedly dismissed, or a condition misidentified as something less serious, are situations we hear about regularly.
Surgical Errors
Surgical negligence covers a range of situations – wrong site surgery, damage to surrounding tissue or organs, and foreign objects left inside the body are among the more serious examples. Post-operative failures are also common grounds for claims, including infections not identified in time or complications that weren’t managed properly.
Increasingly, lack of informed consent before a procedure is forming the basis of claims. Patients have a right to be properly informed about the risks of surgery before they agree to it. It’s also worth noting that not every surgical complication amounts to negligence – context matters, and a solicitor can help you understand the distinction.
Medication Errors
Medication mistakes can happen at any point in the chain – at the prescribing stage, in hospital, or at the pharmacy. The most common issues include the wrong medication being prescribed or dispensed, an incorrect dosage, and failure to check for known allergies or dangerous interactions with other medications the patient is taking.
The consequences can range from relatively mild to life-threatening, depending on the medication involved and the nature of the error.
Birth Injuries
Birth injury claims are among the most serious and complex cases we handle. They include conditions such as cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy and hypoxic brain injury – injuries caused by delays or errors during labour and delivery.
Failure to properly monitor foetal distress, delayed decisions around caesarean sections, and inadequate responses to warning signs during labour are all situations that can lead to life-altering outcomes for a child and their family. Compensation in these cases reflects the lifelong impact of the injury, and these claims often take longer to resolve due to their complexity.
Failure to Refer
This type of negligence happens when a GP or clinician fails to refer a patient to a specialist when the clinical signs clearly indicated they should have. Symptoms get dismissed, monitoring is inadequate, and by the time the condition is properly identified, significant harm has been done.
Failure to refer claims often overlap with delayed diagnosis cases – the two are closely connected.
Anaesthetic Errors
Anaesthetic negligence includes administering too much or too little anaesthetic, failing to properly review a patient’s medical history before administering it, and not managing post-operative anaesthetic complications appropriately.
Awareness under anaesthesia – where a patient is conscious during surgery but unable to communicate – is rare but deeply traumatic, and can form the basis of a serious claim.
Dental Negligence
Dental negligence is more common than most people realise, but it’s often overlooked as a category. Claims include unnecessary tooth extractions, nerve damage caused during treatment, failed or poorly executed root canal procedures, and delayed diagnosis of oral cancer.
If something went wrong during dental treatment and you’ve been left worse off as a result, it’s worth getting advice – dental negligence claims follow the same legal principles as any other medical negligence case.
Care Home Negligence
For families with elderly or vulnerable relatives in Bolton care homes, negligence in a care setting is a particularly distressing situation to face. Common issues include pressure sores developing due to inadequate care, falls and injuries caused by poor risk assessment, medication errors, and malnutrition or dehydration.
Care homes have a duty of care to their residents. When that duty falls short and harm results, a claim may be possible.
How Do You Know If You Have a Claim?
You don’t have to be certain. That’s what a solicitor is for.
There are some signs worth paying attention to – your condition got significantly worse after treatment, you were given information that turned out to be incorrect, or your concerns were repeatedly dismissed without proper investigation. If any of that sounds familiar, trust your instincts and get some advice.
A free initial consultation costs nothing and gives you a much clearer picture of where you stand before you make any decisions.
How Long Do You Have to Make a Claim?
In most cases, you have three years from the date of the negligence – or from the date you became aware that negligence may have occurred. That second point matters, because it’s not always immediately obvious that something went wrong.
There are important exceptions. Children have until their 21st birthday to bring a claim. People without mental capacity are subject to different rules. And for birth injury claims involving a child, the three-year clock starts from their 18th birthday.
Don’t sit on it. Evidence is easier to gather sooner rather than later, and the sooner you get advice, the stronger your position will be.
Does Making a Claim Affect Your Future NHS Care?
This is one of the most common concerns we hear – and it’s one of the main reasons people hold back from pursuing legitimate claims.
The clear answer is no. Your right to NHS treatment is completely separate from any claim you make. Claims are handled by NHS Resolution, which operates entirely independently from the clinical teams responsible for your ongoing care. Your GP surgery, your consultant, your treatment pathway – none of that is linked to a claim you’ve made.
Don’t let this fear stand between you and something you’re entitled to.
Does Making a Claim Hurt the NHS?
The guilt factor is real, and we hear it often. A lot of people in Bolton hold back because they worry about adding financial pressure to an already stretched service.
But NHS Resolution exists specifically to manage and settle clinical negligence claims. It’s not a surprise burden – it’s a funded, built-in part of how the NHS operates. The compensation doesn’t come out of local ward budgets or GP practice funds.
There’s also another way to look at it. Successful negligence claims regularly lead to improvements in procedures, training and patient safety. Holding the NHS accountable when care falls short is part of how standards improve. It’s the system working as it should.
What Compensation Can You Claim For?
Compensation generally falls into two categories.
General damages cover the pain, suffering and loss of quality of life caused by the negligence. Special damages cover the financial impact – lost earnings, the cost of care, future treatment, adaptations to your home or lifestyle, and any other out-of-pocket expenses directly linked to what happened.
In serious cases, particularly those involving life-changing injuries or birth injuries with long-term consequences, compensation can be substantial. Every case is different, and a solicitor will give you a proper assessment of what yours might be worth.
Most medical negligence cases at Liberay Legal are handled on a no win no fee basis, so there’s no financial risk to you in finding out where you stand.
Why Choose Liberay Legal for Your Medical Negligence Claim in Bolton?
Our clinical negligence team is led by Carlos Lopez, head of clinical negligence, who brings specialist expertise and a straightforward approach to every case we take on.
We work with some of the country’s leading medical experts to build the strongest possible case, and we won’t rush a claim at the expense of the outcome you deserve. Most cases are handled on a no win no fee basis, and we’ll always be honest with you about what we think from the very first conversation – no jargon, no pressure.
Not Sure If You Have a Case? Talk to Us First
You don’t need to have all the answers before you get in touch. If something doesn’t feel right about the care you or a loved one received, the best thing you can do is have a conversation with someone who can help you make sense of it.
Get in touch with Liberay Legal today for a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our specialist medical negligence solicitors. We’ll listen carefully, give you an honest assessment of your situation, and be with you every step of the way if you decide to proceed.
Visit liberaylegal.co.uk/medical-negligence or call us on 03330 115 105.
