You have likely found our NHS compensation payouts guide because you wish to know more about claiming for medical negligence. We place a lot of trust in medical professionals when seeking treatment, so it can be disheartening when something goes wrong. If you have suffered harm and financial loss due to substandard medical care, you could be eligible to claim compensation. Doing so could help you move forward and focus on your recovery.
We explain what a compensation payout from the NHS could cover. You can also read some settlement figures provided by the NHS in relation to paediatrics, birth injuries, and A&E treatment. Additionally, we examine how many NHS medical claims are made yearly.
Furthermore, you can find out about the criteria for starting a medical negligence claim. We also explain how you can provide evidence when seeking compensation and the services that our panel of solicitors could offer to assist you.
A No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you move forward with a medical negligence claim. Contact an advisor today to find out whether you can proceed. They can help you outline the eligibility criteria for claiming and provide you with a free case assessment to look at what your compensation could cover.
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Use the live chat pop-up on this webpage
- Submit an online enquiry
Browse Our Guide
- Average NHS Compensation Payouts Guide
- How Many NHS Medical Negligence Claims Are Made Each Year?
- What Can My NHS Compensation Payout Include
- What Are The Criteria For NHS Compensation Payouts?
- How Could I Prove That I Am Eligible For NHS Compensation?
- How Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me?
- More Information
Average NHS Compensation Payouts Guide
In the following section of our NHS compensation payouts guide, we look at how much was paid to claimants between 2023 and 2024. These are broken down by department to include paediatrics, birth injuries, and A&E.
Average Compensation For Paediatrics
According to NHS statistics, £3,215,613,887 worth of compensation was paid to claimants for paediatric medical negligence between 2023 and 2024.
Paediatric medical negligence refers to unnecessary harm caused by a medical professional when treating children or infants. For instance, you could have a valid claim if your child received unnecessary chemotherapy because a doctor misinterpreted their blood test results, leading to a leukaemia misdiagnosis.
Average Compensation For Birth Injury Negligence
Settlements paid out to individuals giving birth totalled £19,492,323,620 (including issues relating to cerebral palsy and brain damage). They cover pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period and account for a variety of birth injuries, including miscarriages and harm due to negligent surgical errors made during a caesarean section.
Birth injury negligence occurs when a medical professional fails to uphold their duty of care whilst treating you. An example would be if a doctor ignores umbilical cord issues, resulting in a baby developing cerebral palsy after being starved of oxygen at birth.
Average Compensation For A&E Negligence
The NHS states that it paid out £1,543,891,124 for medical negligence claims relating to emergency medicine. As an example of negligence, you could suffer a brain injury as a result of an overdose of morphine caused by a nurse misreading a patient’s medical records.
The figures we have included may not apply to the nature of your medical negligence claim. We recommend that you reach out to our advisors to discuss your claim in further detail. They can assess your eligibility and give you a better idea of what you might receive compensation for.
How Many NHS Medical Negligence Claims Are Made Each Year?
Statistics show that the number of individuals who have had their claims against the NHS settled has been increasing year-on-year. See the table below for a breakdown of those figures.
| Year | Number of Claims Settled by the NHS |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 13,382 |
| 2022/23 | 13,552 |
| 2021/22 | 13,107 |
| 2020/21 | 12,083 |
| 2019/20 | 11,359 |
| 2018/19 | 11,418 |
| 2017/18 | 11,896 |
You can continue reading our NHS compensation payouts guide to learn about the eligibility criteria for starting a claim. We also invite you to contact our advisors at any time with your questions about the medical negligence compensation claims process.
What Can My NHS Compensation Payout Include
Precisely how much compensation can be received in NHS medical negligence settlements depends on the harm suffered. For example, according to the JCG, someone who has suffered very severe brain damage could receive £344,150 to £493,000. Likewise, the JCG suggests fairly long-term bladder interference could result in compensation between £28,570 to £38,210
Legal professionals may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) when assessing general damages. This document provides guideline compensation figures based on various severities and types of harm, such as brain damage and scarring. We have included some of these figures in our table below.
These figures do not guarantee the compensation you could be entitled to. Every claim is assessed on its merits, and legal professionals examine the total impact of the harm suffered and how it has impacted someone’s life. Please also note that the first figure is not derived from the JCG.
| Type of Injury | Severity | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple instances of harm with financial impact | Severe | Up to £500,000+ |
| Brain | Very severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderate (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 | |
| Bowels | Total loss of natural function (b) | Up to £183,190 |
| Reproductive system: male | Total impotence | £140,220 to £181,020 |
| Reproductive system: female | Infertility | £140,210 to £207,260 |
| Leg | Above-knee amputation of one leg | £127,930 to £167,760 |
| Facial disfigurement | Very severe scarring | £36,340 to £118,790 |
| Bladder | Some fairly long-term interference with function | £28,570 to £38,210 |
In addition, you could be entitled to claim special damages. These compensate you for the financial losses you incurred due to the harm you suffered. Examples include:
- Loss of earnings if time off impacted your income.
- Medical expenses, such as treatments, prescriptions, or physiotherapy.
- The cost of travel to/from medical appointments.
- Adjustments made to make your home more accessible.
You can contact our team of advisors for further details about what your medical negligence compensation could cover. They offer case assessments free of charge, and there is no requirement to follow up after your enquiry. You can also keep reading our NHS compensation payouts guide for more information about settlement figures.
What Are The Criteria For NHS Compensation Payouts?
If you are wondering, ‘Can I sue my doctor for negligence?’, you must first consider whether you meet the following criteria:
- A medical professional, such as your doctor, must have owed you a duty of care.
- They failed to meet their duty of care.
- This led you to suffer unnecessary harm.
A duty of care means someone like a surgeon has to meet minimum standards when treating you. If they fall short of those standards, you may experience unnecessary harm as a result. However, it’s important to remember that it is not always possible for healthcare providers to anticipate or avoid harm to their patients.
Essentially, that means you would not be able to claim if you have an adverse reaction to a medication you didn’t know you were allergic to. However, a prescription error that causes an allergic reaction would mean you may be eligible to claim compensation.
Another example of a valid medical negligence claim would be a failed sterilisation where a doctor incorrectly applied clips to the fallopian tubes.
Please do not hesitate to contact our advisors with any questions you have while reading our NHS compensation payouts guide. They can also assess your eligibility if you are unsure of the criteria for starting a claim.
How Could I Prove That I Am Eligible For NHS Compensation
You will need to submit evidence in order to support your claim for NHS compensation. This could include:
- A copy of your medical records.
- A diary of your symptoms and the medical treatment you received.
- Contact details for people who may have seen the medical negligence occur. This information can help your solicitor obtain statements to strengthen your claim.
- Photographs showing your symptoms and the harm you experienced.
Our panel of solicitors recognise that this process can seem daunting in medical negligence cases, which is why they can take steps on your behalf to collect evidence. Please reach out to our team to learn more.
How Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me?
After reading our NHS compensation payouts guide, you may be wondering what services our panel offers to help eligible claimants succeed.
If eligible, they could help your clinical negligence compensation claim by:
- Determining what evidence you need to strengthen your claim.
- Working hard to settle your claim outside of court.
- Using years of experience working with specialists, including physiotherapists, to give you the support you need.
- Managing communication with the defending party.
- Arguing your case to maximise your compensation amount.
Additionally, our panel could offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA works on a No Win No Fee basis, meaning that you won’t pay a solicitor’s fee:
- Before your medical negligence claim begins.
- While the claim is underway.
- In the event that you do not gain compensation.
If you do receive medical negligence compensation, a percentage of your compensation will be given to your solicitor as a success fee. We can assure you that this percentage has a legal cap to ensure you keep the majority of the compensation.
By working with a solicitor from a panel, you can rest assured that you are being represented by an experienced legal professional who can draw on hundreds of other cases to offer you advice you can trust. Claiming for medical negligence can appear at first glance to be a stressful and confusing process, so enquire today to find out how we can make the experience easier for you:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Use the live chat pop-up on this webpage
- Submit an online enquiry
More Information
You can also read our other guides related to clinical negligence claims:
- Visit our guide on testicular cancer misdiagnosis
- Learn about claiming for negligence by a chiropractor
- Find out about cosmetic surgery claims
Some useful external resources:
- Visit the NHS resolution page
- Find out about claiming Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- Read about the General Medical Council (GMC), the organisation that outlines good practices for doctors to uphold
Thank you for taking the time to read our NHS compensation payouts guide.
