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.
Claim failed
[2023] EWHC 3163 (KB)·2023·Liability decided at trial
Ms Beatty, in hospital with severe cellulitis, developed ischaemic toes; a vascular surgeon diagnosed vasculitis rather than an embolism and did not order a CT angiogram, and she later needed a below-knee amputation. The judge found the surgeon's diagnosis was supported by a responsible body of medical opinion and dismissed the claim.
A diagnosis that turns out to be wrong is not automatically negligent; if a responsible body of specialists would have reached the same view on the information available, the claim fails under the Bolam test.
Claim failed
[2022] EWHC 2981 (KB)·2022·Liability decided at trial
Mr Middleton's acutely ischaemic leg was diagnosed at lunchtime but bypass surgery did not happen until after midnight, about 14 hours later. The judge found it was reasonable to obtain CT imaging first and that surgery by mid-afternoon was not mandatory, and that earlier surgery would not have prevented the nerve injury in any event.
Obtaining imaging before emergency vascular surgery can be reasonable practice, and a claim fails unless earlier treatment would probably have avoided the injury.
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.