§ 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)
Claimant succeeded£150,000

JAH v Burne & Ors

[2018] EWHC 3461 (QB)·2018·Liability decided at trial

A woman with learning difficulties lost her arm and leg to blood clots in 2012 after several doctors and a hospital failed to spot a blocked artery. Martin Spencer J found only Dr Jackson negligent and causative, and only for the arm, awarding the agreed £150,000.

Where several clinicians see a deteriorating patient, the court examines each contact separately. Compensation was limited to the injury that the negligent consultation could actually have prevented.

Claimant succeeded

Raggett v Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Ors

[2016] EWHC 1604 (QB)·2016·Liability decided at trial

A man with known arterial disease and prior strokes developed severe foot pain and was treated for months by an orthopaedic surgeon, a pain specialist and a rheumatologist, none of whom checked for a vascular cause or felt for foot pulses. By the time critical ischaemia was diagnosed the leg could not be saved; the court found each of the three consultants negligent and held the leg was salvageable earlier.

Clinicians treating limb pain in a high-risk arterial patient must exclude a vascular cause, which starts with checking pulses. Multiple specialists can each be liable for the same missed diagnosis.

Claimant succeeded£2,000

Marcus v Medway Primary Care Trust & Anor

[2010] EWHC 1888 (QB)·2010·Liability and damages decided at trial

A doctor at a same-day treatment centre in April 2005 examined a man with a cold, painful foot but her findings were recorded only on an X-ray request form and never passed to the GP, who then failed over several weeks to diagnose limb-threatening ischaemia. The court found negligence but held the leg could not have been saved, awarding only £2,000 for extra pain.

Examination findings must be communicated to the next clinician, not left on a request form. Even proven negligence yields little compensation if the outcome could not have been changed.

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.