By Cat Mulligan. Last Updated 15th August 2023. Those who have been injured as a result of medical negligence in Scotland may be entitled to NHS Scotland compensation payouts. Medical negligence is where you receive care of a standard that is below what should be expected.
NHS Scotland Compensation Payouts Claims Guide
If you’ve been harmed as a result of negligent medical care, then you may be able to make a clinical negligence claim. This guide will explain how medical negligence could harm you, as well as how compensation claims of this kind are valued.
Our advisors can provide you with free legal advice 24/7 basis with no obligation for you to continue with our services just by getting in touch. They may even be able to connect you to a solicitor from our panel, provided you have a valid claim for compensation.
You can get in touch with our team of advisors by:
- Contacting us directly through the website
- Using the live chat feature at the bottom of your screen
- Calling us on 0800 408 7825
Select A Section
- What Is An NHS Breach Of Duty Of Care?
- How Could You Be Harmed By NHS Negligence?
- How Much Has Been Claimed In Recent Years?
- Medical Negligence Claims – Time Limits
- What Do I Need To Prove My NHS Negligence Claim?
- Calculating NHS Scotland Compensation Payouts
- Start A No Win No Fee NHS Scotland Compensation Claim
- Related Articles
What Is An NHS Breach Of Duty Of Care?
Every medical professional has an obligation to deliver a suitable level of care and act in a way that avoids patients coming to unnecessary harm. This is their duty of care, and a deviation from this acceptable standard could cause injury, illness or a worsening of a condition.
Sometimes, harm is necessary for treating a medical condition, and in this event, you would be unable to claim. For example, treatment such as chemotherapy will be likely to make the patient ill. However, this worsening of the patient’s health is needed in order for cancer to be treated.
It’s important to note that you cannot claim for medical negligence overall; you can only be compensated if a breach of duty of care has caused you harm. For example, if you were given the wrong medication as a result of negligence, but this mistake is spotted relatively quickly and your health was not impacted by this. If these circumstances apply, you’d be unable to claim.
It’s also important that you’re able to prove a connection between the treatment you received and the harm you were caused. You will also need to collect evidence in support of your claim. For this reason, we recommend working with a solicitor who has experience with NHS negligence claims.
If you’d like more information on making a claim, get in touch with our team today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel with experience in claiming NHS scotland compensation payouts.
How Could You Be Harmed By NHS Negligence?
There are a number of different ways that medical negligence can occur, causing patients harm. It’s important to note that just because complications have arisen as a result of medical treatment does not mean that you’re entitled to claim. Sometimes, this can happen even when the right level of care is administered.
For example, you might be suffering from a condition that is very rare, but that shares symptoms with another more common system. If you’re misdiagnosed initially, this may not be the result of negligence; if it’s not, then you would not be able to claim.
Examples of medical negligence can include:
- Misdiagnosis. This might mean that you don’t get the treatment you need for your condition, or that you’re given treatment for a condition you don’t have and are harmed by this as a result.
- Surgical negligence. Examples of surgical negligence could include wrong-site operations, unnecessary surgery or a foreign object being left in the patient’s body.
- Medication errors. You might be prescribed the wrong medication, the wrong dosage of medication or you might be given incorrect instructions on how to take medicine (for example, nobody tells you that you need to take a certain tablet with food).
This list is not exhaustive by any means. There are a number of other ways that you could be harmed by medical negligence that we have not mentioned.
For more information on when NHS Scotland compensation payouts could be owed, speak with an advisor today. You could be connected with one of the medical negligence solicitors for Scotland from our panel.
How Much Has Been Claimed In Recent Years?
The Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS) is the indemnity scheme managed by NHS Scotland. They handle clinical as well as non-clinical negligence claims and publish statistics related to NHS Scotland compensation payouts.
According to their online report for 2020/21, CNORIS paid out £60.26m for clinical negligence cases. This consisted of 278 clinical negligence payments made overall.
For the years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21, the area of medicine with the highest value of claims was obstetrics and gynaecology. This made up 27% of the total value of claims in 2020/21.
Medical Negligence Claims – Time Limits
As we stated above, medical professionals owe you a duty of care. Should they breach this, and you have evidence that you were harmed as a result, you may be curious as to whether you can make a medical negligence claim. Medical professionals must adhere to a professional standard whether they work for either a private healthcare company or the NHS. Compensation claims for clinical or medical negligence must meet specific criteria. And you must also be within the relevant time frame to start a claim.
When claiming compensation from the NHS or a private healthcare facility, you must start your claim within the medical negligence claims time limit.
The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1984 sets this at three years. However, there are particular circumstances where the time limit is suspended. These include cases involving:
- Children under the age of 16.
- People that lack the mental capacity to claim.
If you suffered unnecessary harm because of a negligent medical professional, call our advisors for free legal advice. They’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help without any obligation to proceed with our services.
What Do I Need To Prove My NHS Negligence Claim?
In order for NHS Scotland compensation payouts to be made, it’s important that claimants support their cases with evidence. The more quality evidence you have in support of your claim, the stronger your case could be.
Some of the evidence you could provide includes:
- Photographs. If you have photos of your injuries or the symptoms that have worsened as a result of your negligent treatment, you could provide these in support of your claim.
- Witness statements. In some cases, someone else might have seen the negligence occur that caused you harm. They can provide their contact details so that a statement can be taken later.
- Medical records. If you’ve sought medical attention after being harmed by negligence, then you could use these records to support your claim. You could also use your initial medical records to show what has gone wrong (for instance, it might contain details of the incorrect medication you were prescribed).
In addition to this, you might be invited to a medical assessment as part of your claim. Here, an independent medical expert will assess your injuries and determine whether or not your injuries were caused by negligence. They will then create a report which will be used to value your claim.
For more information on the evidence you can use to support your claim, speak with our team today.
Calculating NHS Scotland Compensation Payouts
Compensation for successful medical negligence claims in Scotland could be made up of up to two heads of claim. The first of these is general damages, which covers the harm you suffered and the way in which it will affect your life.
Often, solicitors and other legal professionals will refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) by Judiciary UK when they value this head of claim. The JCG offers a list of guideline compensation amounts for different forms of harm. You can find some examples of these below. Please note that these figures are illustrative and apply only to claims made in England and Wales.
| Injury and Severity | Possible compensation |
|---|---|
| (b) Paraplegia | £219,070 to £284,260 |
| (B) Moderately Severe Brain Damage | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| (A) Injuries Affecting Sight | In the region of £268,720 |
| (H) Kidney (a) | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| (E) Reproductive System: Male (a) (I) | In excess of £153,870 |
| (F) Other Arm Injuries (a) Severe Injuries | £96,160 to £130,930 |
| (B) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (a) Severe | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| (J) Bladder (c) | £63,980 to £79,930 |
| (A) Chest Injuries (c) | £31,310 to £54,830 |
| (K) Spleen (a) | £20,800 to £26,290 |
The second head of claim is known as special damages. This head allows you to pursue compensation for the financial losses you suffered as a result of the harm you experienced. For example, if a surgery that went wrong left you unable to see, you may not be able to work at your current job anymore. In this case, you may be able to claim back any current or future lost earnings under special damages.
This head of claim can also include the cost of:
- Prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines.
- Travel.
- Childcare.
- Mobility aids.
- Help with housework.
Call our team to discuss whether you could potentially make a medical neglgience claim against NHS Scotland, and what compensation payouts following a successful case could comprise.
Start A No Win No Fee NHS Scotland Compensation Claim
You may be interested in making a claim with the help of a lawyer, but you may be worried about possible legal fees involved with doing so. If this is the case, you may benefit from funding legal representation with a No Win No Fee agreement.
With a No Win No Fee agreement in place, there’s nothing for you to pay upfront or as the claim progresses. There’s also nothing for you to pay if you lose your claim.
If you win, you will pay a legally-capped success fee. This will be deducted from your compensation, entitling you to the majority of the compensation you’re owed.
Call us today to see how we can help. You can do so by:
- Contacting us directly through the website
- Using our live chat feature at the bottom of your screen
- Calling us on 0800 408 7825
Related Articles
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How Long Does A Medical Negligence Claim Take?
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Patient Charter Scotland– This document outlines what you can expect when you use the NHS in Scotland.
NHS Scotland Health Boards- A list of the regional health boards in Scotland.
Request CCTV footage- You can request CCTV footage that you appear in
Thank you for reading this article about NHS Scotland compensation payouts.
Article by EC
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