Surgical Error Claims | How Much Compensation Could I Receive?

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 18th September 2024. Welcome to our guide on surgical error claims. Surgeries and operations are rarely carried out without risk. There are few simple surgical procedures, if any, and they can be both invasive and difficult.

This is because even the most routine operations will require the patient to entrust their life to the surgeons involved. From the minor accidents to the biggest errors – described by the NHS as ‘never events’ – the lasting implications of surgical negligence can be huge.

Though major surgical errors are not common, they do happen. If you have been involved in a procedure in which an operation went wrong, you may be interested in mounting a legal claim. Unfortunately, surgical negligence cases can be complicated. You may require professional assistance. When seeking compensation for surgical errors, hiring the right law firm can make all the difference. With the aid of this guide, you may discover just how easy that process can be.

If you’d like to learn about the key points from this guide, why not check out our video below:

Select a Section:

1. Surgical Negligence Claims – How Much Compensation Could I Receive?
2. What Are Surgical Error Claims And When Could I Claim?
3. Time Limit For Starting A Surgery Error Compensation Claim
4. Examples Of Surgical Error Claims
5. How To Prove A Medical Negligence Claim
6. No Win No Fee Surgical Error Claims
7. Helpful Links On Surgical Negligence Claims

Surgical Negligence Claims – How Much Compensation Could I Receive?

Surgical error compensation can contain up to two different heads of claim. The first, general damages, covers the physical and mental pain and suffering caused by the harm you’ve endured. 

For example, if you suffered damage to your digestive system in an operation gone wrong, general damages would cover the pain and suffering this has caused. 

Compensation for surgical errors also covers loss of amenity, which means loss of enjoyment. For example, if an error during brain surgery caused you to lose your sight and you could no longer paint as a hobby, you could potentially get compensation for this.

When this head of compensation is valued, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) can be used as a reference. The JCG contains a list of guideline compensation brackets that correspond with different mental and physical injuries. 

Below, you can find some examples of these guidelines. Please be aware that the first entry has not been taken from the JCG.

You can also be compensated for the financial losses you experience because of the operation gone wrong. This kind of compensation is called special damages, and can help cover the cost of:

• Prosthetics.
• Mobility aids.
• Prescriptions.
• Childcare.
• Travel.
• Lost earnings.
• Further medical treatment.

When making a claim for special damages, you will need to present evidence of these losses with documents such as invoices, bank statements and payslips.

To find out if you could make a surgical negligence claim, contact our team of advisors today.

What Are Surgical Errors And When Could I Claim?

Surgical errors occur when a surgeon or medical professional makes a mistake during surgery. While these errors can have serious consequences, not all will make you eligible to claim compensation.

In order to form the basis of a valid surgical error claim, you need to be able to establish negligence. For the purposes of a medical negligence claim, this means that:

• A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
• They breached this duty.
• As a result of this breach, you ended up suffering unnecessary or avoidable harm.

Each medical professional owes their patients a duty of care, including surgeons. To fulfil this duty of care, surgeons and other medical professionals have to make sure that the care they provide does not fall below a minimum standard. The General Medical Council (GMC) outline the steps that all medical professionals are expected to take in order to deliver an appropriate standard of care.

If you can prove that your surgical error was caused by medical negligence, you may be able to make a compensation claim. Contact our team of advisors today to learn more, or read on to get more information.

Time Limit For Starting A Surgery Error Compensation Claim

The standard time limit for starting a surgical error compensation claim is three years, as established by the Limitation Act 1980. For medical negligence claims, this time limit will start either from the date you were injured or the date you realised or were expected to have realised that medical negligence has occurred. The latter is known as the date of knowledge.

For children under 18 and those without the mental capacity to handle their own claim, then the time limit does work differently. For children, the time limit for surgical error claims does not start until the day they turn 18 and therefore become old enough to start their own claim. Before this day comes, however, a litigation friend could alternatively make a claim on the injured child’s behalf.

In scenarios where the party injured by a surgical error lacks the mental capacity to make a claim, the three-year time limit is frozen for an indefinite period. A litigation friend could make a claim on the injured person’s behalf instead. However, if the injured party later recovers enough of their mental capacity to manage their case, then the medical negligence claim time limit will activate on the day of recovery.

Contact our team of advisors for free today for more advice on your eligibility to claim compensation for surgical errors.

Examples Of Surgical Error Claims

In this section, we look at examples of surgeries that could result in surgical negligence claims.

As you can see in our list below, some of these errors are considered to be ‘never events’. These are serious incidents that are preventable due to guidance and safety recommendations. Never events are not necessary for surgical error claims. If you suffered unnecessarily due to surgical negligence, even if it was not a never event, you might be able to claim.

Examples of surgical errors include:

• Unnecessary surgery could occur if you don’t need the surgery. For example, if a scan is misinterpreted to show a growth when there wasn’t one.
• Minor surgery, such as that carried out as an outpatient, could result in infections without proper aftercare instructions.
• Carpal tunnel surgery could be carried out on the wrong hand. This is known as wrong-site surgery and is considered to be a never-event.
• Eye surgery could cause a severe loss of vision. You should be warned of any potential side effects of the surgery.
• When having knee surgery, an instrument or other foreign object could be left inside the incision once it is closed. Like wrong-site surgery, this is also considered to be a never-event.

Call our advisors to discuss surgical compensation claims. They can give you free advice about the surgical error you suffered and assess the validity of your claim. If it seems eligible you could be passed onto one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.

How To Prove A Medical Negligence Claim

If you suffered unnecessary harm due to a surgical error, you may wonder what evidence you could submit to help you prove a claim. In this section, we look at examples of evidence that could be useful in surgery compensation claims.

Your evidence must be able to prove that a medical professional owed a duty of care to you and that their failure to adhere to it resulted in you suffering unnecessarily. Medical professionals owe their patients a minimum standard of care to prevent them from coming to unnecessary harm.

For example, wrong site surgery would be a breach in the medical professional’s duty of care. Wrong site surgery is an invasive procedure on either the wrong patient entirely or the right patient but the wrong body part.

Examples of evidence that could be useful in surgical error claims include:

• Symptom diary. For example, you could document the lifestyle impact suffering a surgical error has had on your life.
• Communications from the hospital in relation to the incident, such as letters or emails.
• Any scans or X-rays. These could be from both before or after the incident.
• Known allergies on your medical records. For example, you may have suffered an allergic reaction to the anaesthesia despite a written record of having a known allergy to a particular anaesthetic.

For more information about what evidence could help prove operations gone wrong, call our advisors.

No Win No Fee Surgical Error Claims

If you’ve got a valid surgical error compensation case, one of our specialist solicitors could help you get the settlement you deserve. Our team has years of combined experience handling surgical error claims and offer their professional guidance under No Win No Fee terms.

By signing a Conditional Fee Agreement with one of our solicitors, you would get legal representation with no upfront fee. As well as not being asked to pay for running legal costs, you would pay nothing in solicitor fees at all if the case does not succeed.

If your case wins, a small percentage of the compensation awarded to you goes to the solicitor as their success fee. Thanks to a cap enforced by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, the clear majority of compensation for surgical errors always goes to the claimant.

You can learn whether you’re able to claim compensation for surgical negligence right now. By getting free guidance from our advisors, you can see if one of our expert solicitors can take on your case. For this consultation, or even general advice about claiming compensation for surgery negligence, either:

• Phone us on 0800 073 8804
• Fill out our contact form so we can call you.
• Click the live chat button.

Helpful Links On Surgical Negligence Claims

Below, you can find more useful resources on surgical negligence claims.

• Feedback and complaints about the NHS in England – This link provides you with information on how to file a NHS complaint. We can also help you to file a complaint when making a No Win No Fee claim contact us for free legal advice.
• Medical Negligence Compensation Claim Amounts – If you think you might have a medical negligence claim contact us today to find out how much compensation you can claim.
• Billericay Medical Negligence Solicitors
• Medical Negligence Solicitors For Birkenhead 

Thank you for reading our guide about surgical error claims.