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Eligibility information tool

Five plain-English questions covering the legal tests for a UK clinical negligence claim — duty of care, breach, causation, harm and limitation. Educational only.

Can I make a medical negligence claim?

Short answerYou may have a UK medical negligence claim if four things are present: a healthcare professional owed you a duty of care; their care fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner (the Bolam test); that failure caused you avoidable harm; and you are within the time limit, usually three years. Only an SRA-regulated solicitor can assess your own case.

Do the four legal ingredients appear to be present?

Every UK clinical negligence claim has to clear four legal tests, plus the limitation deadline. This tool walks you through them in plain English so you can better understand the framework before speaking to an SRA-regulated solicitor.

Question 1

Were you under the care of a healthcare professional in the UK (NHS or private)?

There must be a duty of care — that arises whenever a clinician takes you on as a patient.

Question 2

Do you believe the care you received fell below an acceptable standard?

The legal test is the Bolam standard (refined by Bolitho): would a responsible body of clinicians in the same field have acted differently?

Question 3

Did you suffer additional injury, illness or worsening of a condition as a result?

There must be measurable harm — being upset about poor care, without injury, is not enough for a compensation claim (a complaint may still be appropriate).

Question 4

Would a different / earlier treatment, on the balance of probabilities, have avoided that harm?

This is the causation test — it is what stops most claims and is what medical experts spend the most time on.

Question 5

Did the negligent treatment happen within the last 3 years (or, for a child, before they turned 18)?

The Limitation Act 1980 gives most claimants 3 years from the negligence or date of knowledge. Use the time-limit checker for an exact answer.

Where to get regulated help

  1. Request your full medical records (NHS trust or GP practice, free under UK GDPR).
  2. Write a clear timeline of what happened and what harm it caused.
  3. Contact an SRA-regulated solicitor via the Law Society Find a Solicitor directory (filter by Clinical Negligence accreditation), or via AvMA, an independent charity that offers a free initial advice service.