Attending A&E can be extremely stressful. People seek urgent medical treatment because they are in pain, concerned about their symptoms, or worried about a loved one. While most receive appropriate care, mistakes can happen. If serious symptoms are missed or treatment is delayed, the consequences can be life changing.
Recent reporting from the BBC shows that A&E medical negligence claims are increasing.
Understanding why this negligent treatment happens and whether a medical negligence claim can be brought as a result can help people who believe they have suffered avoidable harm as a result of negligent emergency care.
Why are A&E medical negligence claims increasing?
Healthcare services across the UK continue to face significant challenges, including increasing patient demand and workforce pressures. Healthcare professionals work tirelessly in difficult and often highly pressured environments. However, these pressures can increase the risk of mistakes occurring.
One of the most significant issues identified in A&E claims is the failure to recognise signs that a patient’s condition is deteriorating. If a patient’s condition becomes worse but no one notices, treatment may be delayed and the chance to help them may disappear.
Early recognition of deteriorating patients is particularly important in cases involving serious conditions such as sepsis, stroke, brain injury and cardiac illness. These conditions often require urgent assessment and treatment. Delays in diagnosis or intervention can have a significant impact on a patient’s recovery and long-term outcome.
Misdiagnosis is another common feature in A&E negligence claims. Clinicians working in emergency settings are frequently required to make important decisions based on limited information and within short timeframes. However, where symptoms are not properly assessed or investigated, serious conditions can be missed or incorrectly diagnosed, sometimes resulting in serious injury or death.
When is A&E treatment medical negligence?
A&E medical negligence occurs when a healthcare professional working within an emergency department provides care that falls below an acceptable standard and causes avoidable injury or harm.
Examples of emergency department negligence may include:
- Failing to diagnose a serious condition.
- Delaying treatment unnecessarily.
- Failing to investigate symptoms appropriately.
- Misinterpreting test results or scans.
- Medication errors.
- Failing to recognise that a patient’s condition is worsening.
A more detailed example could involve a patient attending A&E with severe back pain, weakness and urinary symptoms. These can be recognised red flag symptoms of cauda equina syndrome, a serious neurological condition requiring urgent investigation. If those symptoms are not identified and MRI imaging is delayed, the patient may suffer permanent neurological injury that could potentially have been avoided with earlier treatment.
It’s important to note that not every poor outcome will amount to negligence. To pursue a successful claim, it must generally be shown that the treatment fell below a reasonable standard and that this caused avoidable harm.
Can you claim compensation for negligent A&E treatment?
Many people contact solicitors because they are left wondering whether their outcome could have been different had action been taken sooner, appropriate investigations been performed, or warning signs been recognised earlier.
Whilst statistics highlight the rise in claims and compensation payments, it is important to remember the individuals behind those figures.
For many people, pursuing a medical negligence claim is about more than financial compensation. Patients may be left dealing with avoidable pain, additional treatment, loss of earnings, disability, loss of independence, or significant changes to their quality of life. Families may also be left seeking answers following the death of a loved one.
Many clients are not initially looking to pursue legal action. Instead, they want to understand what happened, whether their injury could have been avoided, and whether lessons can be learned for the future.
If you attended A&E and your condition worsened because warning signs were missed, investigations were delayed, or you were discharged when further treatment was required, you may understandably be questioning whether your care met an acceptable standard.
If mistakes made during your attendance at A&E caused avoidable harm, you may be entitled to investigate a potential medical negligence claim.
Potential signs of A&E negligence
You may wish to speak to a medical negligence solicitor if:
- Your diagnosis was delayed.
- You were repeatedly discharged despite worsening symptoms.
- Important test results or scans were not acted upon
- Your condition deteriorated whilst waiting for treatment
- You have been informed that earlier treatment may have improved your outcome
- A loved one died following concerns regarding emergency department care
Even if you are unsure whether negligence occurred, obtaining early legal advice can help you understand your position and any relevant time limits that may apply.
Our involvement
Our specialist medical negligence solicitors routinely investigate claims involving delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, failures to recognise deteriorating patients and other allegations arising from emergency department care.
We understand that many people are reluctant to explore a claim because they do not wish to criticise individual healthcare professionals. Emergency departments operate in challenging circumstances, and medical negligence claims are not about assigning blame. Rather, they seek to establish whether avoidable harm occurred as a result of care falling below an acceptable standard.
Where appropriate, we obtain and review medical records and instruct independent medical experts to assess whether the treatment provided was reasonable and whether any avoidable harm resulted.
Speak to a medical negligence solicitor
If you are concerned that mistakes made during A&E treatment caused you or a loved one avoidable harm, our specialist medical negligence solicitors can help.
We can review the circumstances of your treatment, obtain and analyse your medical records, and advise whether there may be grounds to pursue a claim. Even if you are unsure whether negligence occurred, seeking early advice can help you understand your legal position and any important time limits that may apply.
Frequently asked questions about A&E negligence
Potentially, yes. If a reasonably competent clinician would have diagnosed or investigated your condition and the failure to do so caused additional harm, you may have grounds to pursue a medical negligence claim.
Some of the most common allegations include delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, failure to recognise deterioration, delays in treatment and failures to arrange appropriate investigations.
Generally, adults have three years from the date of the alleged negligence, or from the date they became aware that negligence may have occurred.
In some circumstances, dependants and the estate of the deceased may be able to pursue a claim.
In most cases, court proceedings must be commenced within three years of the date of the alleged negligence or the date of knowledge. Different limitation periods can apply for children and protected parties, which is why early legal advice is important.