Independent UK information · Plain-English guide
Understanding a medical negligence claim, without the sales pitch.
If care from an NHS trust, GP surgery, dentist or private clinic has caused you avoidable harm, the law may give you a route to compensation. This site explains that route — clearly, without pressure, and without ever taking your details.
- Free · 60 seconds
- No name or email required
- Built on the legal tests solicitors apply
Start here
What does medical negligence actually mean in UK law?
Short answer
In the UK, medical negligence — also called clinical negligence — describes a situation in which a healthcare professional's treatment falls below the standard a reasonably competent practitioner of the same discipline would have provided, and that shortfall directly produces an injury or worsening that would not otherwise have occurred. Both elements — substandard care and resulting harm — must be established for compensation to be awarded.
The framework comes from two leading cases: Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee, which set the original "responsible body of opinion" test, and Bolitho v City and Hackney HA, which added that the body of opinion must itself stand up to logical scrutiny. The same principles apply across NHS care, private hospitals, dental practices, GP surgeries, midwifery and care-home settings — there is no separate, lower standard for any one branch of medicine.
Two centuries of common law shape every clinical negligence claim heard today.
Bolam · Bolitho · Montgomery
Four pillars
Choose your starting point.
Whether you're making sense of a recent diagnosis, helping a relative after a hospital stay that went badly, or simply researching the topic — the four sections below cover the ground.
- 01
Categories of clinical negligence
From missed cancer diagnoses to surgical errors and maternity harm — the recurring patterns behind UK claims.
- 02
What UK patients are entitled to
Statutory and common-law rights — duty of care, informed consent, candour, and access to your records.
- 03
Inside the claim process
Each formal stage of a UK clinical negligence claim, from first call through to settlement.
- 04
Funding a claim
How Conditional Fee Agreements really work, the 25% statutory cap, ATE insurance and QOCS protection.
Three things worth knowing first
Before you go further into the detail.
01
Compensation is a recognised legal remedy
Where care has fallen below the proper standard and that has caused you measurable injury or financial loss, the courts can order the responsible party — NHS Resolution for NHS care, the provider's medical defence insurer for private care — to pay damages.
02
The clock starts ticking quickly
The Limitation Act 1980 gives most adult claimants three years from either the date of the negligent act or the date they first reasonably became aware that harm had been caused. Different rules apply for children and for adults who lack mental capacity.
03
You don't need to commit to anything to learn more
Reading this site, requesting your medical records, and even speaking informally with a regulated solicitor cost you nothing and create no obligation. A claim only formally begins when you sign a written agreement with a firm.
Take the next step
Use the free 60-second eligibility checker.
Five short questions, drawn from the same legal tests a specialist solicitor applies at a first call. Anonymous, no contact details required, plain-English result at the end — including how to find a regulated UK specialist if your case is worth taking forward.
Start the check