What you need to know
Short answerA successful A&E claim turns on three things: was triage and investigation what a competent department would have done; was deterioration recognised and escalated; was discharge safe given the presentation? Where the answer to any of those is "no" and avoidable harm followed, the NHS trust can be liable.
Common A&E negligence claims
- Missed fractures — scaphoid, hip, vertebral or paediatric fractures missed on initial X-ray review.
- Missed cardiac events — atypical chest pain discharged; ECG abnormalities not actioned.
- Missed pulmonary embolism — shortness of breath without Wells score / D-dimer workup.
- Missed sepsis or meningitis — see our sepsis claims guide.
- Missed stroke / delayed thrombolysis — outside the treatment window because of triage delay.
- Missed intracranial bleed — head injury sent home without CT despite NICE CG176 criteria.
- Triage failures — high NEWS2 not escalated.
- Unsafe discharge — deteriorating patient sent home without senior review or safety-netting.
Records and timeline are everything
A&E records — including triage notes, observations charts, ECGs, X-ray reports and discharge summaries — are central. So is the ambulance handover sheet. Request copies early. Where the patient died, the inquest evidence may also support the claim.
Who you sue
You sue the NHS trust that runs the hospital, not the individual doctor or nurse. NHS Resolution conducts the litigation on the trust's behalf through the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST).
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim against an NHS A&E department?
Yes. A&E (Emergency Department) staff owe patients the same duty of care as any other clinician. If triage, investigation, treatment or discharge fell below the standard of a reasonably competent emergency physician or nurse — and caused you avoidable harm — a claim is possible. NHS Resolution defends the trust on behalf of the hospital.
What are the most common A&E negligence claims?
Missed fractures (especially on X-ray), missed cardiac events or pulmonary embolism, missed sepsis or meningitis, missed head injury with intracranial bleed, mismanaged stroke (delayed thrombolysis), discharge of a deteriorating patient, and triage failures where high NEWS2 scores were not escalated.
Does long A&E waiting time mean negligence?
Not by itself. Pressure on services explains many waits. But if a patient with red-flag signs was not triaged urgently, or deteriorated unnoticed while waiting, and that delay caused harm a competent system would have prevented, the trust can be liable.
What if I was sent home and then got worse?
Discharge decisions are a frequent source of A&E claims. The test is whether a reasonable emergency physician would have admitted or further investigated, given your presentation. Inadequate safety-netting (what to do if symptoms worsen) is itself a breach.