If you suspect your treatment was negligent, taking early action is important. Start by:

• Contacting a specialist solicitor, who can assess whether there’s a valid claim.
• Requesting your medical records, including X-rays and surgery notes.
• Writing down what happened, including symptoms, key dates, and any discussions with clinicians.
• Preserving any evidence, such as photographs of your injury or receipts for out-of-pocket costs.

You don’t need to know for certain that negligence occurred – that’s what we are here for.

Yes – if you’ve been harmed due to negligent treatment by an NHS doctor, surgeon, or hospital team, you can make a claim. The process:

1. Legal assessment: we will review your records and circumstances to confirm whether a claim is viable.
2. Evidence gathering: including expert reports showing that the care you received fell below acceptable standards.
3. Formal submission: your claim is lodged with NHS Resolution, which handles legal disputes involving NHS trusts.
4. Negotiation or court proceedings, depending on whether the NHS admits fault or disputes liability.

Successful claims are funded through a central NHS pot – individual doctors are not personally liable.

Yes – if the damage was avoidable and resulted from substandard care. Nerve injuries may arise due to:

• Poor surgical technique damaging nerves directly.
• Tourniquets used for too long, leading to tissue death.
• Injections administered in the wrong location or without proper care.

Nerve damage can result in serious, long-term symptoms including numbness, pain, muscle weakness, and mobility loss – all of which will be considered in your claim.

Yes – if the person affected is unable to make the claim themselves, you can act as a litigation friend. This might be necessary in cases involving:

• Children (under the age of 18).
• Adults lacking mental capacity due to injury, illness, or cognitive impairment.
• Elderly individuals unable to manage legal matters independently.

As a litigation friend, you’ll make decisions in the claimant’s best interest and help liaise with solicitors. This ensures that vulnerable individuals don’t miss out on justice due to their inability to act on their own.

Compensation aims to reflect both your pain and the financial impact of your injury. A typical claim includes:

• General damages: for pain, reduced quality of life, or lasting disability.
• Special damages: including loss of earnings (past and future), private physiotherapy or rehabilitation, equipment or mobility aids, house or vehicle adaptations, paid or unpaid care from family or professionals, travel, prescriptions, and incidental expenses.

Each case is assessed individually, with input from medical experts to ensure your claim reflects both immediate and long-term needs.

You can still claim if you only recently became aware that negligence caused your injury. The three-year time limit typically begins when:

• A second opinion or expert confirms what went wrong.
• A revision surgery highlights avoidable damage.
• Your symptoms become clearly linked to past treatment.

This “date of knowledge” can extend your window to bring a claim, but time remains crucial – the earlier you act, the stronger your case can be.