Medical negligence is care that falls below the standard reasonably expected of a competent healthcare professional, where that failure causes avoidable harm. Both parts have to be present, poor care on its own is not enough, and a bad outcome on its own is not enough.

It is also called clinical negligence or medical malpractice. It can involve any healthcare professional, including GPs, hospital doctors, surgeons, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, in NHS or private treatment.

Three things need to be established before a claim can succeed:

• A duty of care was owed. This is rarely in dispute, anyone treating you owes you a duty of care.

• That duty was breached. The care fell below the standard of a reasonably competent professional in that field.

• The breach caused harm. The failure in care has to be what caused your injury, rather than the underlying illness or an unavoidable complication.

The third point is where most claims are won or lost. Establishing it usually requires your medical records and an independent opinion from a specialist in the relevant field.

Sometimes, yes. Medicine carries genuine risks, and a disappointing result is not automatically negligence, a complication can occur even when the care given was entirely appropriate.

What matters is whether the risk was managed competently and whether it was properly explained to you beforehand. If a recognised risk was never discussed, and you would have chosen differently had you known, that failure to obtain informed consent may itself found a claim.

Yes. Claims against NHS trusts in England are handled by NHS Resolution, which manages compensation on behalf of the organisation rather than the individual clinician. In Wales, NHS bodies are covered by the Welsh Risk Pool.

Compensation is not paid out of a ward or department budget, and a claim is not made against a named nurse or doctor personally.

Yes. The legal test is the same whether care was NHS or private. The difference is who the claim is brought against - usually the treating clinician, who will hold their own indemnity insurance, or the clinic or hospital, depending on how the treatment was arranged.

Private cosmetic and dental treatment can involve additional contractual rights alongside a negligence claim.

No. Your entitlement to NHS care does not change because you have raised a concern or brought a claim, and it is unlawful for treatment to be withheld or reduced on that basis.

If you would prefer to be treated elsewhere while a claim is ongoing, that can usually be arranged.

The general time limit is three years, under the Limitation Act 1980. That period runs from the date the negligence happened, or from the later date on which you first realised - or could reasonably have realised - that your injury may have been caused by the care you received. This is known as your date of knowledge.

If the deadline passes, a court will usually refuse to let the claim proceed, although it has a limited discretion to allow it in some circumstances. There are also important exceptions:

You may still be within time. The clock can start from your date of knowledge rather than the date of the treatment itself, for example, when a second opinion or a later scan first suggested that something had gone wrong.

Establishing that date is a legal question rather than a matter of when you began to suspect something, so it is worth having it assessed properly.

There is no fixed amount. Compensation is calculated individually and is made up of two parts:

• General damages - for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the injury. These are valued by reference to the Judicial College Guidelines and to awards made in comparable reported cases.

• Special damages - for financial loss caused by the negligence. This can include lost earnings, the cost of care and assistance, private treatment or surgery, medication, travel, equipment, and adaptations to your home.

Where an injury will affect you for the rest of your life, future losses are calculated separately and can form the largest part of an award. Because every case turns on its own facts, no figure can be given until the medical evidence is in.

A no win, no fee agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement - means that if your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay our legal fees.

How it works in practice:

• If the claim succeeds: the opponent pays the majority of your legal costs. A success fee is then deducted from part of your compensation. By law, that deduction cannot exceed 25% of your general damages and past financial losses combined. Damages awarded for future losses are excluded from the calculation.

• If the claim does not succeed: you pay nothing to us, and insurance is normally put in place to cover the opponent's costs and the expenses incurred along the way, such as expert fees and medical records charges.

No. There is nothing to pay to start a claim and nothing to pay as it progresses. Expenses incurred during the case, obtaining medical records, expert reports, court fees are funded as the claim runs rather than invoiced to you.

Your first conversation with us is free and carries no obligation to go any further.

Most medical negligence claims are settled by negotiation and never reach a trial. Court proceedings are sometimes issued as a procedural step, often to protect a limitation deadline or to apply pressure where liability is being denied and even then the claim will usually settle before a hearing.

If a trial does become necessary, you will be prepared for it thoroughly and will not face it alone.

It depends chiefly on whether liability is admitted and how serious the injury is. Where fault is accepted early and the injury has resolved, a claim can conclude in around 12 to 18 months. Where liability is disputed, or where several expert opinions are needed, two to three years is more common.

The most serious cases - birth injury, brain injury, or any injury where the long-term prognosis is not yet clear take longer, because settling before the future needs are understood risks under-compensating a lifetime of care. In those cases interim payments can often be obtained so that support is not delayed while the claim continues.

You don't have to, and a complaint is not a required step before a claim. The two processes do different things: a complaint through PALS or the trust's formal procedure can produce an explanation, an apology and a change in practice, whereas a claim is the only route to compensation.

Many people pursue both. If you do complain first, keep the three-year time limit in mind, complaints processes and Ombudsman referrals can take many months, and they do not pause the legal deadline.

Your medical records are the foundation of every claim, and we obtain those for you. Independent expert evidence is then instructed, one specialist to address the standard of care, and usually another to address the injury and its effects.

What helps most from you is anything contemporaneous: a note of what was said and when, appointment letters, photographs of a visible injury, and records of money spent or earnings lost. If you have nothing written down, that will not prevent a claim.

Usually, yes. An independent medical expert in the relevant specialism will assess your injury and prepare a report on its cause, its effect on you and your likely recovery. That report is central to valuing the claim.

The appointment is arranged at a convenient location and is paid for as part of the case, not by you.

Yes, in several situations:

• A child - A parent or guardian can act as their litigation friend and bring the claim on their behalf.

• An adult who lacks capacity - A family member, deputy or attorney can act as litigation friend.

• Someone who has died - The executor or administrator of the estate can bring a claim under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934, and dependants may have a separate claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

Yes. You are entitled to instruct a different firm at any stage, and your file can be transferred. It is worth checking what your current funding arrangement says about costs on transfer before you decide.

If you are unhappy with how a claim is being handled, we can review where it has got to and explain your options.

Yes. Most people who contact us want to understand what happened before they think about anything else, and a first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Finding out where you stand does not oblige you to bring a claim, and knowing your options, including the option to do nothing is usually better than wondering.