§ CASE LIBRARY

Real medical negligence cases,
every one linked to the judgment.

Published judgments of the courts of England and Wales, summarised in plain English: what went wrong, what the court decided, and the sum where the judgment states it. We include the claims that failed as well as the ones that succeeded, because they show what you have to prove.

Judgments

152

With the sum stated

33

Claimant succeeded

87

Claim failed

59

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§ WAYS IN

Sums stated (33)£1M and above (13)Claims that failed (59)Fault admitted (42)Court approvals (10)Periodical payments (30)Delayed diagnosis (95)Brain injury (32)Consent claims (13)Leading cases (6)Infection and sepsis (31)Surgery claims (64)Claims for children (39)Fatal claims (22)
AllSum statedClaimant succeededClaim failed
Every claim typeClinical Negligence (10)Surgical Errors (12)Cerebral Palsy (13)Birth Injuries (1)Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis (7)Erb's Palsy (1)GP Negligence (16)Maternal Birth Injury (4)Stillbirth & Neonatal Death (2)Neonatal Injury (5)Sepsis Negligence (5)Cauda Equina Syndrome (7)DVT & Blood Clot (2)A&E Negligence (16)Cancer Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis (6)Orthopaedic Negligence (4)Vascular Negligence (6)Cardiac Negligence (6)Brain & Spinal Surgery Negligence (13)Urology & Catheter Injury (5)Anaesthetic Negligence (2)Fatal Medical Negligence (9)
Claim failed

Watson v Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2022] EWHC 148 (QB)·2022·Liability decided at trial

A 29-year-old with sudden facial droop, speech problems and arm weakness was told by a junior A&E doctor she had migraine and was not referred to the TIA clinic, which the Trust admitted was a breach. Ritchie J found her March symptoms were in fact hemiplegic migraine, not mini-strokes, so the missed referral did not cause her later stroke.

Admitted breach of duty is not enough; the claimant must prove the correct pathway would have prevented the injury. Detailed findings about the exact sequence of symptoms decided this case.

Claim failed

Jaciubek v Gulati & Anor

[2016] EWHC 269 (QB)·2016·Liability decided at trial

A woman saw her GP and then attended the Royal Free A&E with severe headaches in June and July 2010, was not investigated for a bleed, and suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage days later while abroad. The judge accepted that earlier small bleeds did not present with typical warning signs and found no breach by the GP, A&E doctor or triage nurse.

Headache claims against A&E succeed only if the presentation should have prompted a scan or lumbar puncture; atypical symptoms without red flags can make it very hard to prove negligence.

Claim failed

Owers & Anor v Medway NHS Foundation Trust & Anor

[2015] EWHC 2363 (QB)·2015·Liability decided at trial

A woman attending Medway Maritime Hospital A&E in March 2010 with an evolving stroke was not given aspirin promptly after she deteriorated, which the court found was negligent. The claim still failed because the evidence showed her outcome would have been the same even with aspirin.

Proving that A&E staff were negligent is not enough; the claimant must also show the negligence changed the outcome. Where the stroke was untreatable in time, the claim fails on causation.

Claim failed

Mulholland v Medway NHS Foundation Trust

[2015] EWHC 268 (QB)·2015·Liability decided at trial

A man seen at Medway Maritime Hospital A&E in January 2010 with neurological symptoms was discharged without a CT scan or TIA clinic referral, and a brain tumour was diagnosed seven months later. The court held the triage nurse and A&E doctor acted within acceptable practice, so the claim failed.

An A&E doctor who makes a reasonable assessment and relies appropriately on specialist input is not negligent just because the diagnosis later proves wrong.

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

§ HOW TO READ THESE

Most claims never reach a judgment. They settle privately, and settlement sums are confidential. Judgments surface when liability is disputed, when damages are fought over, or when a court must approve a settlement for a child or someone who lacks capacity. That is why approvals and damages trials are where the public figures come from.

Amounts are only what the judgment prints. Where a case shows a lump sum plus periodical payments, the yearly payments continue for life and can be worth far more than the lump sum. Where no figure is shown, the court decided fault but the money was settled or assessed elsewhere.

Plain-English guides built on these cases →

This guide is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice about your case. ClaimGavel is run by Costart Projects Ltd on behalf of Tomlin & Partners, a specialist medical negligence firm regulated by the SRA. The free assessment on this page is an AI overview to show you roughly where you stand; a solicitor confirms the position in a free, no-obligation conversation.