Every case below is a published judgment of the courts of England and Wales, linked to its source. Summaries are ours; amounts appear only where the judgment states them. We include claims that failed, because they show what has to be proved.
Claimant succeeded£550,000
[2026] EWHC 1284 (KB)·2026·Liability decided at trial
A patient developed life-threatening pancreatitis after a gallstone-removal ERCP. The judge found the consultant never prescribed or instructed the standard preventive diclofenac suppository, so it was not given, and entered judgment for £550,000 against him.
Failing to give a recognised prophylactic drug before a procedure can be negligent even in private care. The prescribing doctor, not the hospital, carried the liability here.
Claimant succeeded£811,247
[2026] EWHC 657 (KB)·2026·Damages assessed at trial
The trust admitted it negligently failed to diagnose Daisy Lynch's developmental hip dysplasia at birth, so it was not picked up until she was three, by which time simple non-surgical treatment was no longer possible. She went through repeated hip operations and a total hip replacement at 22, and the court assessed her damages after an eight-day trial.
Even where liability is admitted, damages can be heavily contested, and the court can add a provisional damages order letting the claimant return for more if a specified complication later occurs. The award covered pain and suffering, lost earnings, future care and future surgery.
Claim failed
[2022] EWHC 2735 (KB)·2022·Liability decided at trial
A man with end-stage kidney failure was given a single 400mg gentamicin dose for a chest infection and suffered permanent balance and hearing damage. His sister's claim failed because the judge accepted that a high dose was a reasonable choice for a worsening infection with sepsis risk, despite his renal impairment.
A drug dose that causes known side-effects is not automatically negligent if it was a reasonable clinical judgement in the circumstances. Departing from a hospital guideline is not itself proof of negligence.
Claimant succeeded
[2020] EWHC 2902 (QB)·2020·Liability decided at trial
A 79-year-old with macular degeneration was persuaded to have an intraocular lens implant in her better eye without proper informed consent, then developed raised eye pressure that the surgeon left untreated for five weeks. Stacey J found the surgeon negligent both in consenting and in delaying laser treatment, causing total blindness in that eye.
Private eye surgeons must obtain genuinely informed consent and act promptly on post-operative complications. A delay that materially contributes to permanent damage is enough for liability even if some harm had already occurred.
Claim failed
[2020] EWHC 359 (QB)·2020·Appeal decision
A 65-year-old inpatient who became confused at night fell out of bed and hurt her knees, and she argued that bed rails should have been fitted. The trial judge found that rails had not been recommended and would have been removed anyway, and the High Court refused to disturb those findings.
Bed rails are not automatically the safe option, because they can create their own risks for a confused and mobile patient. An appeal court will rarely overturn a trial judge's findings about what nursing staff decided or would have decided.
Claim failed
[2020] EWHC 158 (QB)·2020·Liability decided at trial
After an appendectomy a woman developed an abdominal mass that scans labelled a harmless omental infarction; it was actually a rare bacterial infection that later formed an abscess needing surgery. The judge accepted an early biopsy would have avoided this but held the doctors were not negligent in not doing one.
Hindsight showing that a test would have helped is not the same as proving it was negligent not to do it. Unusual infections that mimic benign findings on scans are a recognised trap for both clinicians and claimants.