A Guide To How To Complain About Hospital Negligence
If you are wondering how to complain about hospital negligence, this guide will help. All healthcare providers and medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. If they breach this duty of care, you could not only make a complaint to the relevant regulatory body, but if you have suffered avoidable harm due to this breach, you could make a hospital negligence claim. We discuss who you could complain to and the steps you can take.
There is a time limit to making a complaint and also filing a medical negligence claim, so in the sections below, we detail what these limitation periods are.
We also discuss how compensation is awarded for a successful hospital negligence claim, as well as explain the benefits of being represented by No Win No Fee specialist medical negligence solicitors.
The solicitors on our panel have years of experience representing hospital negligence claims. To find out whether you could be connected with them, please speak with our medical negligence team of advisors. They are here to help answer frequently asked questions and your queries 24/7:
- Call the team on 020 3870 4868.
- Begin your claim online by completing this form.
- Click the live chat button at the bottom of the screen to be connected to an advisor now.
Jump To A Section
- How To Complain About Hospital Negligence
- When Could You Complain About Hospital Negligence?
- How Long After Negligent Care Could You Complain?
- Hospital Negligence Compensation Claims
- How Much Could You Claim For Negligent Hospital Care?
- Start A No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Claim
- Useful Hospital Negligence Claim Resources
How To Complain About Hospital Negligence
To complain about hospital negligence, you may need to contact the service provider as well as an official body. You could first make your complaint to the hospital’s complaints department. If you are not happy with the investigations, then you could also complain to an external official body.
Some official bodies to which you could complain include the General Medical Council (GMC) to report doctor negligence and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to complain about a health care provider.
Below are the bodies to whom you may need to complain, depending on where you received negligent hospital care.
NHS Hospital Complaints
A formal NHS complaint can be made to the NHS Resolution, which can fairly resolve disputes and concerns. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint against the NHS, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can handle your complaint and make final decisions on the outcome.
Private Hospital Complaints
You could first make a complaint to the specific private hospital where you received negligent medical treatment. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint, the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS) can handle complaints against the majority of independent healthcare providers.
If you are unsure of the complaints procedure for clinical negligence or wish for more information about the health service ombudsman, please chat with our team.
When Could You Complain About Hospital Negligence?
It is important to be aware that although you may be dissatisfied with the care you have received while being in hospital, this may not amount to hospital negligence. In the sections below, we discuss what hospital negligence is. Whether you have received negligent treatment or you are just dissatisfied with the care you were given, you can make a complaint for either/or.
If you feel you received a lack of respect, negligent care, or poor service at any point as a patient, you can complain. Your complaint may start informally, either verbally or with a complaint letter. If there is no satisfactory response, making a formal complaint may then be an option.
To find out if the treatment or care you received in the hospital could lead you to make a hospital negligence claim, please call our team now for a free evaluation.
How Long After Negligent Care Could You Complain?
In general, you should raise your complaint against a hospital no more than 12 months after you receive negligent care.
However, if there are valid reasons for you making your complaint any later than this period, then investigations could still take place. For example, if you only found out that you received negligent care at a later date.
How Long After Negligent Care Could You Claim Compensation?
The Limitation Act 1980 states that there is a 3-year standard time limit to make a medical negligence claim. These 3 years typically commence from either the date you received negligent care or the date you found out that you received negligent care.
However, if the person wishing to claim is either under 18 or does not have the mental capacity to claim, then the time limit is paused. While the time limit is paused, a litigation friend may be appointed to step in and start the claim on their behalf.
If a litigation friend has not stepped in when either the claimant turns 18 or regains their mental capacity, then the standard time limit commences from this point.
Our team of advisors can tell you more about the time limits to complain and/or claim against a hospital.
Hospital Negligence Compensation Claims
Every hospital owes a duty of care to all patients it treats. It must always provide the correct standard of care that does not fall below the minimum expectation.
As such, if their standard of care falls below the minimum expectation, this is a breach of their duty of care.
If you want to make a medical negligence claim after experiencing poor care in a hospital, you need to prove the following criteria:
- A medical professional or healthcare provider, such as a hospital owed a duty of care.
- They breached their duty of care.
- From this breach, you suffered avoidable harm (harm that should have been prevented).
If you did not suffer avoidable harm from negligent care, then there is no claim.
Please speak with our advisors to confirm your medical negligence claim eligibility and for more on the complaints process.
How Much Could You Claim For Negligent Hospital Care?
If your medical negligence claim for negligent hospital care is successful, you could receive compensation for up to two heads of loss, known as general and special damages.
General damages awards financial compensation for the physical and psychological effects of the avoidable harm you have suffered due to negligent hospital care. During the valuation of this head of loss, these are some of the factors considered:
- The length of recovery.
- Quality of life changes.
- Pain severity.
You may be invited to go to an independent medical assessment as part of the claims process. The reports and results derived from this medical assessment can be referred to during the valuation of this head of loss. The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a publication that can also be used during the valuation. The JCG contains different guideline compensation brackets for different types of injuries and illnesses.
Injuries Table
Containing information from the JCG (except the top row), we have included some types of injuries and illnesses which you could suffer as avoidable harm due to hospital negligence. It’s important to be aware, however, that none of the accompanying guideline compensation brackets provided can be guaranteed.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline compensation brackets | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple types of serious harm along with special damages | Serious | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation for sustaining multiple types of serious harm along with the costs that they have caused for the injured person. For example, loss of earnings. |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 | The ability to show evidence of a meaningful response to their environment, and their language function, will be little, if any. Full-time nursing care is also needed. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | The injured person may have a severely reduced life expectancy and be in a minimally conscious state. | |
| Moderate (c) (iii) | £43,060 to £90,720 | Although dependence on others will be limited, the ability to work is reduced and memory and concentration are affected. | |
| Kidney | Loss or permanent and serious damage (a) | £169,400 to £210,400 | To both kidneys. |
| Bowel | Double incontinence (a) | Up to £184,200 | Total loss of urinary function and control and of natural bowel function. There will also be other medical complications. |
| Complete loss of natural function (b) | Up to £150,110 | The injured person will depend on a colostomy depending on the injured person's age. | |
| Male reproductive system | Total loss (a) | In excess of £153,870 | Of reproductive organs. |
| Reproductive system female | Infertility whether by reason of injury or disease (a) | £114,900 to £170,280 | With sexual dysfunction, severe depression and anxiety, pain, and scarring. |
Special Damages
Special damages awards compensation for the financial effects of the avoidable harm you have suffered due to negligent hospital care. Some financial effects which avoidable harm may cause for you include:
- Loss of earnings for taking time off work during recovery.
- Costs for at-home care.
- Medical expenses.
Special damages are not guaranteed to be awarded for successful claims, whereas general damages are. Thus, it is advised to keep all receipts, invoices, bank statements, and payslips as proof of this head of loss.
Contact our advisors to learn about how to complain about hospital negligence and how much compensation could be awarded for avoidable harm caused by negligent hospital care.
Start A No Win No Fee Hospital Negligence Claim
If you do have an eligible medical negligence claim and wish to start legal proceedings for negligent hospital care, our panel of expert solicitors could offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). CFAs are a specific No Win No Fee contract.
For your solicitor’s services, you do not have to pay upfront or throughout the claiming process. This still applies if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim is successful, a success fee will be taken from your compensation instead. Success fees are a percentage of your compensation that solicitors take. Additionally, there is a maximum cap on what can be taken as the success fee to ensure you will receive the majority of the compensation total, no matter what.
Contact Us
Contact our team today to see whether you could be connected with one of the No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors on our panel. The solicitors can give you advice about the claiming process and how to complain about hospital negligence. You can contact us for free
- Call the team on 020 3870 4868.
- Begin your claim online by completing this form.
- Click the live chat button at the bottom of the screen to be connected to an advisor now.
Useful Hospital Negligence Claim Resources
Our related guides:
- See how to claim compensaiton for medication errors by nurses in this guide.
- Find out how to claim compensation if a hospital missed a collapsed lung.
- Look at when you could claim compensation for a doctor prescribing the wrong medication.
Extra resources:
- NHS – guidance on how to complain to the NHS about treatment.
- More from the NHS about mental health services.
- How to claim Statutory Sick Pay SSP from the government website
Hopefully after reading this guide, you have more knowledge on how to complain about hospital negligence. If you require more information regarding making a complaint and/or making a compensation claim after suffering negligent hospital care, our advisors are available at any time and are happy to chat with you.
