Sue the NHS?
Our Suing The NHS Guide Will Show You If You Have A Valid Claim.
If you have arrived at this page you are obviously concerned that a medical mistake has been made and you want to see if you can sue the NHS for an injury you have suffered. This guide looks to examine the basic legal system. If at the end of it you would like a free and expert legal opinion on whether you can sue the nhs, please complete our free online enquiry form.
To establish whether clinical negligence (formerly called medical negligence) has occurred you have to meet certain tests. These are:
- Establishing a duty of care (ie the NHS to look after you whilst in their care)
- Breach of that duty of care towards you (ie the clinical negligence)
- The breach of duty caused your injury/illness (causation)
We will look at these in more detail below.
Duty of Care
If you have been under the care of the NHS the duty of care is easily established. When you enter the care of the NHS they have a duty to look after you as you are completely under their care.
Breach Of The Duty Of Care
Once you have established a duty of care, before you can sue the NHS you must prove that this duty has been breached. Without going into too much of the lengthy legal duty the doctor, consultant or nurse must do an act that breaches this duty (eg amputation of a wrong limb or a negligent operation causing more injury) or failing to take action (such as C Diff where the failure is to keep the hospital clear from superbugs).
Causation
Often the hardest part of a clinical negligence claim is proving that the breach of duty "caused" the injury sustained by the patient. If you can prove that the act or failed action caused the injury then you have established the basis for a claim and you should be able to sue the NHS.
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