MJP Solicitors

Clinical Negligence is a highly complex and specialist area of law. It requires medical as well as legal knowledge and an empathy with the feelings and needs of people who have been harmed by negligent treatment. We have 25 years’ experience in this field. Unfortunately many claimants have been badly let down by solicitors taking on clinical negligence cases which they are not competent to handle. For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

What is a "medical accident"?

If something goes wrong when you are having medical treatment, this is sometimes called a 'medical accident' or 'adverse event'. If your treatment has not worked or there have been complications, it does not always mean that there has been a mistake, or that negligence is involved. In some cases, you have to accept errors or complications as unavoidable risks of the treatment. For example, if you have major heart surgery, you can expect that there will be risks because of the surgery. However, there can be complications with minor procedures too.   

'Clinical negligence' is the legal term used to describe a medical accident where a patient has been harmed, not because of a complication that could not have been avoided, but because a doctor or other healthcare professional has not given the proper standard of care. It doesn't always mean that this person was incompetent. It can just mean that in a particular case, they made a mistake that they shouldn't have. 

Clinical negligence includes things such as:

• making a mistake during surgery;
• giving you the wrong drug; or
• making the wrong diagnosis.     

Clinical negligence can also include not doing things that should be done, such as:  

• not giving you treatment you needed;
• not getting your consent (agreement) to treatment; or
• not warning you about the risks of a particular type of treatment.