Types of Medical Negligence Claim
Medical negligence arises across every discipline of healthcare — in NHS hospitals and private clinics, in GP surgeries and specialist centres, during routine appointments and complex surgical procedures. Understanding which category of negligence applies to your situation helps identify the specialist expertise required and the specific evidential challenges involved.
The six categories below represent the most frequently litigated types of clinical negligence claim in the UK. Each page provides a detailed explanation of how the law applies, what must be proven, and what kinds of harm are typically involved.
Surgical Errors
Negligence during or immediately after an operation — including wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, anaesthetic errors, and failures of post-operative care.
Read more →Misdiagnosis
A failure to correctly identify a condition, or identification of the wrong condition, leading to delayed, incorrect, or harmful treatment.
Read more →Birth Injury
Negligent care during pregnancy, labour, or delivery causing injury to the mother or child — including cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, and hypoxic birth injury.
Read more →GP Negligence
Failures by a general practitioner — missed referrals, prescription errors, inadequate examination, failure to follow up test results, and delayed diagnosis.
Read more →Delayed Diagnosis
A correct diagnosis eventually made, but after an unreasonable delay that allowed harm to progress — most commonly in cancer, stroke, and sepsis cases.
Read more →Medication Errors
Prescribing the wrong drug or dose, dangerous drug interactions, dispensing errors by pharmacists, or failure to warn of known medication risks.
Read more →If your situation does not appear to fit one of these categories, that does not mean a claim cannot exist. Clinical negligence can arise in any healthcare context — including dentistry, ophthalmology, cosmetic procedures, mental health care, and care home settings.
Read the full guide to what constitutes medical negligence →
Sources & References
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