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Whether a patient receives treatment in an NHS or private hospital, they are entitled to expect a safe and acceptable standard of care.

Good hospital care relies on many factors, including decisions by individual clinicians, communication and effective working relationships between healthcare teams, adequate resourcing and systems to protect patient safety. Where mistakes happen which cause avoidable harm to the patient, they are entitled to compensation for their injury.

We are experienced in helping clients claim compensation for injuries caused by NHS and private hospital negligence. Our friendly medical negligence team will identify the correct defendant and exactly what went wrong, to ensure that each client is properly compensated for their injury.

What is hospital negligence?

Hospitals are busy places. Most NHS hospitals provide a range of medical services. A patient may come into the hospital at A&E (accident and emergency) and then be treated by other departments, such as radiology (for x-rays and scans), orthopaedic surgery, and pharmacy. Depending on their medical condition, they may be referred by their GP directly to a specialist department, such as maternity, cardiology (heart), or oncology (cancer).

There are often many stages to a patient’s treatment, including referral, triage (deciding on their priority for treatment), conversations, examinations, tests or investigations, interpretation of results, diagnosis, treatment, and decisions about when to admit the patient to hospital or discharge them home.  At each stage the doctor, nurse, midwife or other healthcare provider must provide care of an acceptable standard. If substandard care at any stage causes serious injury to the patient, they may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

The NHS takes responsibility for the errors of its hospital employees. Where a claim arises because a member of NHS staff in a hospital has caused an injury to a patient by providing negligent treatment or care, the NHS organisation (or trust) which employs them becomes the defendant to the patient’s compensation claim. The legal claim is then defended or settled by the NHS defence organisation, NHS Resolution.

Where a patient is injured as a result of negligent private medical care, the doctor or health professional who provided the care is responsible for the consequences of their negligence, including any claims. They will usually be represented by their own defence organisation, which will meet the cost of any successful claim. The hospital which provided the facilities or location where the treatment took place will not take responsibility for the individual doctor’s mistakes. The hospital may, however, be liable for any harm caused by their employees, facility or equipment.

When making a medical negligence claim for injury caused by private medical treatment, great care must be taken to identify and notify the correct defendant or defendants to the claim. 

What type of hospital mistakes can be medical negligence?

Hospital errors which may lead to a medical negligence claim include:

  • misdiagnosis;
  • delay in diagnosis and treatment of medical emergencies;
  • negligent maternity (antenatal, perinatal and post-natal) or neonatal care;
  • sending a patient home who needs admission, treatment (e.g. intravenous antibiotics or surgery), tests or a scan;
  • failing to examine the patient properly;
  • failing to take a proper medical history or note the patient’s symptoms;
  • failing to carry out investigations, such as x-rays, scans or blood tests;
  • misinterpretation of scans, x-rays or test results;
  • failing to monitor patients properly;
  • delaying or failing to refer the patient to an appropriate specialist for advice or treatment;
  • communication errors, (e.g. failing to recall a patient for treatment after test results);
  • surgical, anaesthetic and post-operative errors;
  • delaying or failing to recognise and treat infection;
  • medication or prescribing errors.
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What injuries caused by hospital negligence can I claim for?

As specialist medical negligence solicitors, we have decades of experience in helping clients claim compensation for injuries caused by hospital negligence. Our clients have suffered the most catastrophic and severely disabling injuries, including:

  • cerebral palsy, birth injury and maternal injury in childbirth;
  • brain damage and neurological injury from neonatal (newborn) and paediatric (child) care errors;
  • brain injury and severe disability from untreated head injury, stroke, and intra-cranial (within the skull) bleeding, such as subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and subdural haemorrhage (SDH);
  • meningitis, septicaemia and sepsis-related brain injury, amputation and death;
  • paralysis and severe disability from cauda equina, spinal tumours and spinal injury;
  • pain, disability, psychological/psychiatric injury and reduced lifespan from untreated cancer;
  • amputation, nerve damage and sepsis from surgical errors;
  • cardiac damage, stroke, brain injury and death from undiagnosed heart attack or embolism;
  • amputation from vascular injury and ischaemia;
  • bowel damage, peritonitis and sepsis from bowel and abdominal surgery errors;
  • anaesthetic awareness, brain injury and anaphylaxis.
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Meet your specialist team

Our specialist Hospital negligence claims team are considered leaders in the field and have a significant amount of expertise.
Susan Brown photo

Susan Brown

Partner

Julie Marsh headshot

Julie Marsh

Partner

Richard Money-Kyrle headshot

Richard Money-Kyrle

Partner

Sita Soni headshot

Sita Soni

Senior Associate - solicitor

Vanessa Wand photo

Vanessa Wand

Senior associate - solicitor

Tara Byrne photo

Tara Byrne

Associate - Solicitor

Rachel Makore headshot

Rachel Makore

Associate - solicitor

Alpa Rana headshot

Alpa Rana

Associate - solicitor

Fran Rothwell

Fran Rothwell

Associate solicitor

Ben Ireland headshot

Ben Ireland

Solicitor

Alice Carley headshot

Alice Carley

Paralegal

Audrey Elmore headshot

Audrey Elmore

Medical records coordinator

Nicky Melville headshot

Nicky Melville

Professional support assistant

Susan Brown photo
Julie Marsh headshot
Richard Money-Kyrle headshot
Sita Soni headshot
Vanessa Wand photo
Tara Byrne photo
Rachel Makore headshot
Alpa Rana headshot
Fran Rothwell
Ben Ireland headshot
Alice Carley headshot
Audrey Elmore headshot
Nicky Melville headshot

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Our teams have been nationally recognised over the past decade for their dedication and commitment to securing maximum compensation for our clients

              Brake | The Road Safety Charity

"Honest, approachable and truly empathetic"

What has to be some of the most testing horrible times was dealt with in a dignified, honest, approachable and truly empathetic manner. I could not begin to do Susan justice for her handling of our case.

Boyes Turner Client

"they kept us fully informed "

I approached Boyes Turner after my claim was turned down by one of the Medical Negligence Claim company. My wife was a victim of medical negligence.

Boyes Turner have acted so efficiently on our behalf and was able to win our case. Anytime we contact them, their customer service was very good as they kept us fully informed of every level our case has developed. They are very friendly and approachable and great in their professional advise. I would strongly recommend anyone approach them for their legal and medical negligence services.

Boyes Turner Client

"Thoroughly professional, knowledgable and approachable"

Thoroughly professional, knowledgable and approachable with communication and updates as and when needed, in what can be a drawn out process, I was always comfortable asking questions and always received answers which were clear and understandable. Highly recommend

Boyes Turner Client

"Amazing professional firm"

I came to Boyes Turner desperate after searching the web for a firm to use for my sons case. He was only a few months so my mind was all over the place, but from the very first point of contact I felt a sense of relieve and belonging. I was welcomed and looked after by amazing staff who always communicated everything so well and went the extra mile to explain things and ensure I understood what was happening every step of the way (THANK YOU SUSAN BROWN). Susan was amazing I felt like I not only had a solicitor but someone who understood my emotions as a mother and always handled me with so much compassion and that was all I needed to keep me going for the 6 years of the case. Years went by in a breeze because of how professional Boyes Turner was. I am so greatful I went through it all with them and mananged to get my son a good compensation. We look forward our new life where my sons needs are priority after struggling for so long. Thank you Boyes Turner and thank you Susan Brown. My family and I are ever indebted.

Boyes Turner Client

"I couldn’t fault them they have been brilliant throughout the whole process"

From the moment I picked up the phone and spoke to Richard Money-Kyrle I knew I had done the right thing by choosing Boyes Turner to take our claim forward and to represent my son. Both Richard Money-Kyrle and Alpa Rana have worked on our case and they both have been amazing throughout, explaining every step of the way and anything we didn’t understand and keeping me updated constantly. This gave me and my family a lot of reassurance.

Both Richard and Alpa are friendly and gained my trust and have been really easy to talk to which has made the process a whole lot easier and smoother than anticipated.
The outcome of the claim was far more than I could have wished for and that was down to their hard work and expertise

I couldn’t fault them they have been brilliant throughout the whole process I would recommend Boyes Turner to anyone.

Boyes Turner Client
Rated Excellent 4.8/5