Surgical Negligence Claims

If surgery has left you worse off and you believe the care fell short, our clinical negligence solicitors can investigate. Free initial consultation, no obligation, no win, no fee available.

When you have surgery, the surgeon, the anaesthetist, the theatre team and the ward staff all owe you a duty of care. Every operation carries some risk, and you are entitled to be told what those risks are, but you are also entitled to expect the procedure and the care around it to meet a proper professional standard.

Where it does not, the consequences can be lasting: further surgery, permanent pain or disability, a longer recovery than anyone anticipated, and time away from work you had not budgeted for.

We act for claimants across the UK in claims against NHS trusts and private hospitals arising from surgical care. Our medical negligence solicitors are on the panel of Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA). Call 01689 887800 or submit your details and we will get back to you.

Do I have a surgical negligence claim?

You may have a claim if your surgical care fell below the standard of a responsible body of surgical opinion and that failure caused harm that would otherwise have been avoided. A poor result is not the same as negligence.

If a risk you were properly warned about materialises despite competent care, there is generally no claim, however difficult the outcome.

In practice, claims tend to fall into four groups:

Errors during the procedure. Injury that competent technique would have avoided; the wrong procedure or the wrong site; an object left in the body.

Failures before the procedure. Inadequate assessment, operating when it was not indicated, or a failure to obtain proper informed consent. On consent, the test set by the Supreme Court in Montgomery is not what surgeons customarily disclose: you should be told of any material risk in the recommended procedure and of reasonable alternatives, judged by what a reasonable person in your position would attach significance to. What counts as a reasonable alternative is a matter of professional judgement.

Failures after the procedure. A complication that was not recognised, or not acted on quickly enough. Many surgical claims turn on what happened after the operation rather than on the operation itself.

Anaesthetic errors, including dosage and airway management failures.

Whether the care fell short can only be determined by an independent expert surgeon in the same specialty reviewing the records. That is the first substantive step in any claim we take on.

Types of surgical negligence we handle

Never events: wrong site, wrong implant and retained objects

NHS England classifies a small number of incidents as never events, meaning incidents considered wholly preventable because guidance or safety recommendations that provide strong systemic protective barriers are available at a national level and should have been implemented by all healthcare providers. They include surgery on the wrong site, the wrong implant or prosthesis, and a foreign object retained after a procedure. Around 400 never events are reported across the NHS each year. NHS England consulted on the framework in 2024 and published the findings in September 2025: two thirds of respondents considered it unfit for purpose, and NHS England is now testing alternatives. The current framework remains in force in the meantime.

Where a never event has occurred, breach of duty is rarely the contested issue. The claim usually turns on what harm followed.

Orthopaedic surgery claims

Joint replacement, spinal surgery and fracture fixation, including malpositioned implants and delayed recognition of failure.

General and abdominal surgery claims

Gallbladder, hernia, bowel and appendix surgery, including injury to adjacent structures and complications not recognised afterwards.

Post-operative monitoring claims

Failure to recognise or act on a deteriorating patient, and failure to escalate. Where a patient died, we also advise on fatal claims and inquests.

Cosmetic and private surgery claims

Procedures carried out without adequate assessment or consent, and complications not managed afterwards. The legal principles are the same; the defendant is the practitioner or clinic and their insurer rather than NHS Resolution.

Delayed or cancelled surgery claims

Where a delay in operating caused avoidable harm, rather than the operation itself being at fault. Where the delay was in identifying the problem, it is a delayed or missed diagnosis claim.

We also act in claims arising from eye surgery, gynaecological surgery and dental and oral surgery.

How much compensation could I claim?

Compensation has two parts, and in a surgical claim the second is usually the larger.

General damages compensate for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the negligence, not by the underlying condition that made surgery necessary in the first place. Separating the two is the central task of the medical evidence, and it is why an award for a surgical claim is rarely as large as the overall impact of the illness feels.

Special damages compensate the financial consequences, known as the heads of loss. They cover corrective or revision surgery, treatment and rehabilitation, loss of earnings past and future, care and assistance including help given by family, travel, and aids or adaptations where the outcome is permanent.

We will tell you which heads of loss are likely to apply to you at the first conversation, and make sure each is evidenced. What we will not do is quote a figure before the expert evidence exists.

How a surgical negligence claim works

Free initial consultation. No charge, no obligation. We establish what happened and whether the case merits investigation.

Records. We obtain your complete medical records, including the operation note, the anaesthetic chart, nursing records and any incident investigation the trust has carried out.

Independent expert evidence. An expert in the relevant surgical specialty reports on whether the care met the proper standard, and a further expert on what difference competent care would have made.

Letter of claim. The claim is set out formally in accordance with the pre-action protocol, the procedure the courts expect before proceedings are issued, and the defendant has a defined period to investigate and respond.

Negotiation. Most claims settle without formal legal proceedings: NHS Resolution reported that 84% of clinical negligence claims were resolved without them in 2025/26.

Proceedings, if needed. Where a fair resolution cannot be reached we issue, and take the case to trial if necessary.

Time limits for surgical negligence claims

Under the Limitation Act 1980, the general limit is three years from the date of the negligent surgery or, if later, from the date you first knew you had a significant injury and that it was attributable to the surgery. The second date often matters here, because it is common not to learn something went wrong until a later scan, a revision procedure or a second opinion.

For a child, the three years runs from their eighteenth birthday. Where a patient lacks capacity to conduct proceedings, time does not run while that continues. Where a patient has died, a claim is generally brought within three years of the death or of the personal representative’s date of knowledge.

Because the date of knowledge is so often arguable in surgical claims, do not assume you are out of time without taking advice.

No win, no fee: funding a surgical negligence claim

Most surgical negligence claims are funded by a conditional fee agreement, known as no win, no fee. Nothing is payable upfront, and if the claim does not succeed you do not pay our fees.

If it succeeds, most of our costs are recovered from the defendant, and a success fee comes out of your compensation. By law that success fee cannot exceed 25% of your damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and your past financial losses, after any benefits repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit have been taken off. That cap applies however the claim ends, and the fee is never taken from compensation for future losses. You would also be responsible for disbursements such as expert and court fees, and for any costs order made against you, which is what after the event insurance is for. We will set out all of it in writing before you sign anything.

Also worth checking: legal expenses insurance, often an add-on to home or motor insurance, which can mean no deduction from your damages; and after the event insurance, whose premium relating to expert reports can be recoverable in clinical negligence.

Should I complain to the hospital as well?

You can do both, and the two run on separate timetables.

A complaint to the trust or provider should normally be made within 12 months of the incident or of becoming aware of it. If the response does not satisfy you, the complaint can go to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, generally within 12 months of becoming aware of the problem. The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS but cannot award compensation, and generally cannot investigate where court action is available.

In practice a complaint response, and any incident investigation the trust has carried out, frequently produces documents and admissions that help a claim. Tell us if you have already complained, and send us what you were sent.

Frequently asked questions about surgical negligence claims

Am I eligible to claim for surgical negligence?

If you were harmed by surgical care that fell below the proper standard, you may be. The time limit is usually three years, but it does not always run from the surgery. The records need reviewing and an independent expert instructed before anyone can tell you for certain.

I signed a consent form. Can I still claim?

Yes. A signed form is not a waiver. The question is whether you were told of the material risks and of reasonable alternatives, and whether you had a genuine opportunity to consider them. A signature on a form completed minutes before a procedure often does not establish informed consent.

What if the complication is a recognised risk of the operation?

If you were properly warned and the care was competent, there is generally no claim. If you were not warned, or the complication arose from a failure in technique or in post-operative care, there may be.

How much will I receive for surgical negligence?

There is no standard figure. An award reflects the harm the negligence caused as distinct from the underlying condition, plus the financial consequences. We will explain which heads of loss apply to you once the medical evidence is available.

How long will a surgical negligence claim take?

The timetable is driven by the time needed to obtain records and independent expert evidence on both breach of duty and causation, and complex claims take longer. We will give you a realistic timetable for your own case once we have the records.

Can I claim for private surgery?

You may be able to. The legal test is identical. The claim is against the surgeon or the clinic and whoever provides their insurance or indemnity cover rather than against NHS Resolution, and because you paid for the treatment the contract may give you additional rights.

Will making a claim affect my ongoing treatment?

No. Bringing a claim does not affect your entitlement to NHS treatment, and it is common for claimants to remain under the care of the same trust.

Speak to our surgical negligence solicitors

If surgery has left you worse off and you want to know whether the care fell short, tell us what happened. We will tell you whether we think it is worth investigating.

Our team of medical negligence solicitors is led by Alex Wormald, a partner ranked by Chambers and Partners. Our case studies show the kinds of claim we take on.

Call 01689 887801 or request a callback. The first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.