By Marlon Marquardt. Last Updated 13th January 2023. This guide will explore the circumstances in which you could put forward an unnecessary surgery compensation claim.
All medically-trained practitioners have a duty to their patients to ensure they receive the right level of care.
However, in certain cases, the care a patient receives may fall below the standard expected resulting in avoidable errors, such as surgical mistakes.
As a result, the patient may experience unnecessary harm. Are your circumstances similar, then please read this guide below.
We’ll help you understand whether you’re eligible to claim compensation for unnecessary surgery by looking at how a medical professional could act negligently.
Additionally, this article will look at how a No Win No Fee solicitor could benefit you when seeking compensation.
If you need any additional information once you’ve read our guide, please get in touch with our team by:
- Ringing 0800 408 7825
- Speaking with an advisor on the live chat function below
- Filling out this contact form with your query.
Unnecessary surgery compensation claim guide
Select A Section
- What Is An Unnecessary Surgical Procedure?
- Why Does Unnecessary Surgery Happen?
- Could Negligence Lead To Unnecessary Surgery?
- Inappropriate Surgical Procedures
- My Doctor Failed To Offer Non-Surgical Options – Can I Claim Compensation?
- How Much Compensation For Unnecessary Surgery Could I Receive?
- Make An Unnecessary Surgery Compensation Claim
- Learn More About Unnecessary Surgery Compensation Claims
What Is An Unnecessary Surgical Procedure?
Unnecessary surgery is an operation that you did not need. However, in order to make a medical negligence claim for such an incident, you must be able to prove that this happened through the negligence of your medical team.
If you decide to hire a solicitor to represent your medical negligence claim on a No Win No Fee basis, the case will need to be assessed to determine whether it’s valid.
A valid claim must be able to demonstrate that a trained medical professional acted negligently. Medical negligence involves a medically trained professional providing you with a substandard level of care that results in you sustaining unnecessary harm.
For that reason, a surgery that you didn’t require could be a form of medical negligence if it happened because there was a breach in the duty of care owed to you.
We understand unnecessary surgery compensation claims may seem complex, so for answers to your questions, call our advisors today.
Why Does Unnecessary Surgery Happen?
There are various reasons why unnecessary surgery could occur, such as:
- Misdiagnosis: A cancer specialist may have misdiagnosed a patient with breast cancer due to them failing to provide the right level of care. Meaning, the patient may have undergone a mastectomy that was later found out to have been unnecessary after she received the correct diagnosis.
- Surgical errors: A surgeon may have operated on the wrong part of the body after failing to follow the correct pre-surgical protocols. Therefore, a patient may have undergone an operation that removed their kidney rather than a knee amputation surgery.
- Treatment options: A patient may have undergone an invasive open-heart surgery when there were less invasive treatments suitable for them. The patient may have been left with scarring that could have been avoided.
Please get in touch with our team to have your questions answered. They can advise on whether you’re eligible to seek unnecessary surgery compensation.
Could Negligence Lead To Unnecessary Surgery?
In certain circumstances, negligence could lead to you sustaining harm after undergoing a surgery you didn’t need. Certain types of surgical errors are classed as a never event by the NHS, such as wrong-site surgeries. A medical professional should never allow these events to happen.
However, it’s important to note that not all harm sustained in a hospital or another medical setting is caused by negligence. Furthermore, in some cases, you may experience harm that’s unavoidable.
For that reason, it’s important to provide evidence in support of your claim. Medical evidence and reports will be used to support your claims.
However, when looking at whether negligence occurred, the Bolam test may also be considered. This is where medically trained professionals assess whether you were provided with care of the right standard.
Inappropriate Surgical Procedures
Similarly to unnecessary surgery, inappropriate surgery is a surgical procedure you don’t need.
For example, an administrative error may have led to the surgeon receiving the wrong patient notes before an operation. As a result, the surgeon may have carried out the wrong operation on the wrong patient. The patient may have experienced avoidable harm as a result.
There are various types of operations that are carried out daily, such as:
- General surgery
- Brain surgery
- Amputations
- Spinal surgery
- Cardiac surgery
- Endocrine surgery
- Orthopaedic surgery
- Reconstructive surgery
Have you gone through surgery that you didn’t need, call our team. They can discuss whether you’re eligible to claim unnecessary surgery compensation.
My Doctor Failed To Offer Non-Surgical Options – Can I Claim Compensation?
As mentioned earlier in our guide, there are circumstances where non-surgical options may have been more suitable than invasive surgery.
For that reason, if the medical professional responsible for your care failed to offer you a non-surgical treatment option despite it being more suitable, you may wish to seek compensation.
It’s difficult to provide specific examples of when a doctor should offer a non-surgical option as it can vary depending on your illness or injury.
How Much Compensation For Unnecessary Surgery Could I Receive?
Compensation in an unnecessary surgery compensation claim will be based on the harm that was caused by, or during the act of negligence.
As mentioned above, in order for you to be eligible to make a claim, you would need to have been harmed either physically or mentally by the surgery. Harm in surgery claims can come in many forms including infections, cosmetic damage such as scarring, the worsening of an injury or the causing a new injury or illness entirely.
You can claim two types of compensation in a medical negligence claim—compensation for your pain and suffering (known as general damages) or compensation for the financial losses the illness or injury has led to or will lead to (known as special damages).
For illustrative purposes, we have included a table of illnesses and conditions that could be contracted during unnecessary surgery. Alongside the injuries are brackets showing the range of compensation for general damages.
| Harm Caused | Severity | Example Compensation Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Eye Injuries | (b) Complete loss of eye sight in both eyes. | In the region of £268,720 |
| Kidney | (a) Serious | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| General Psychiatric Damage | (a) Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| General Psychiatric Damage | (b) Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Facial Disfigurement | (a) Very Severe | £29,780 to £97,330 |
| Facial Disfigurement | (b) Less Severe | £17,960 to £48,420 |
| Facial Disfigurement | (e) Trivial scarring where there is a minor effect. | £1,710 to £3,530 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | (b) Moderately Severe | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | (c) Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 |
The table is taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a resource commonly used to value injuries in court claims in England & Wales
Special Damages And Unnecessary Surgery Compensation Claims
As mentioned, the compensation you would seek for your financial losses is called special damages. To give you examples, you could claim compensation for losses caused by:
- Being unable to work
- Spending towards medical treatment or care
- Spending towards aids, like crutches or splints, to help you cope with your condition
You may be asked to present supporting evidence of your losses in your claim, so it is important to maintain records whenever you can.
If you’ve been impacted by negligent surgery and would like some advice, reach out to us today. We offer a free case check that carries no obligation to make a claim. We simply want to help people with their legal problems.
Make An Unnecessary Surgery Compensation Claim
We hope our guide has answered any questions you had about unnecessary surgery compensation claims. However, for any further questions, please call our team of advisors who can help.
Alternatively, if you’re ready to begin your claim, they could assess your case to see if it’s valid and has a chance of succeeding. If it does, they can appoint a solicitor from our panel to represent your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
This means you won’t pay an upfront fee or ongoing costs while your claim proceeds. Most importantly, you won’t pay solicitor fees if your claim fails.
If your claim succeeds, you will pay a success fee out of your compensation. The success fee is subject to a legal cap.
For more information, call our advisors:
- Ringing 0800 408 7825
- Speaking with an advisor on the live chat function below
- Filling out our online contact form with your query.
Learn More About Unnecessary Surgery Compensation Claims
Below, we have included some alternative guides and external resources that you may find beneficial.
For information on the medical appointment you may need to attend as part of the claims process, see our guide.
Were you prescribed the wrong medication by a medical professional? If so, please read this guide.
If you’ve suffered a misdiagnosis of testicular cancer, you could be entitled to claim compensation under medical negligence law.
To learn about claiming compensation for a broken bone suffered during childbirth, head here. You can find out about the claims process and potential compensation payouts for birth injury claims
If you’re wondering whether you can sue your doctor for negligence, see our guide.
Visit the NHS Resolution website to learn about the role they play in claims against the NHS.
See the Care Quality Commission to learn about the fundamental standards of care they set out.
For more information on your patient rights, see the NHS Constitution for England.
Although we have tried to cover the information you need in our guide on unnecessary surgery compensation claims, we understand you may still have questions. If so, call our team on the number above for more information.