§ 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

44

With the sum stated

13

Claimant succeeded

26

Claim failed

16

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AllSum statedClaimant succeededClaim failed
Every claim typeClinical Negligence (1)Surgical Errors (3)Cerebral Palsy (8)Birth Injuries (1)Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis (1)Erb's Palsy (1)GP Negligence (4)Maternal Birth Injury (2)Stillbirth & Neonatal Death (1)Neonatal Injury (1)Sepsis Negligence (3)Cauda Equina Syndrome (2)DVT & Blood Clot (1)A&E Negligence (3)Cancer Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis (1)Orthopaedic Negligence (2)Vascular Negligence (1)Cardiac Negligence (1)Brain & Spinal Surgery Negligence (1)Anaesthetic Negligence (2)Fatal Medical Negligence (4)
Claimant succeeded£4.68M

Matthew Riley v Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

[2022] EWHC 2417 (KB)·2022·Damages assessed at trial

A 20-year-old motorcyclist with leg fractures developed compartment syndrome which the trust admitted it treated too late, so his right leg had to be amputated below the knee. Liability was admitted and the court assessed damages at £4,676,442 covering lifelong prosthetics, care, adapted housing and lost earnings.

Where a hospital admits that quicker treatment of compartment syndrome would have saved a limb, the case becomes about valuing lifelong needs, and prosthetics, accommodation and care can each run to six or seven figures for a young claimant.

Claimant succeeded£2.85M

Chocken v Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2020] EWHC 3269 (QB)·2020·Appeal decision

After a 10-hour facial reconstruction the claimant developed compartment syndrome in both legs in intensive care and was left with permanent damage; the trust settled 70 days before trial for a £2.85 million lump sum plus annual payments of £48,000 rising to £85,000. This later judgment dealt only with the lawyers' success fee and dismissed the claimant's appeal on that point.

Compartment syndrome arising from post-operative monitoring failures can attract multi-million-pound settlements with periodical payments for lifelong care, although this figure comes from a costs judgment rather than a damages judgment.

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.