Clinical Negligence Knowledge Centre
Understand medical negligence, NHS complaints, your records, legal terminology and the routes available in England and Wales.
Use this centre to understand the routes available without giving us your details. Where free NHS, advocacy or complaints options are available, we explain those before paid or legal routes.
Browse the Clinical Negligence A–Z →
The legal framework
What clinical negligence means in England and Wales, what has to be proved, and how a claim is investigated.
- What is clinical negligence?
What clinical negligence means in England and Wales, what must be proved, how breach and causation differ, and why poor care is not automatically a claim.
- Breach of duty in clinical negligence
Breach of duty in clinical negligence: the Bolam and Bolitho tests for diagnosis and treatment, and how Montgomery and McCulloch shape informed consent.
- Causation in clinical negligence
Causation in clinical negligence: the ‘but for’ test, balance of probabilities, material contribution, and why poor care does not prove it caused harm.
- Clinical negligence time limits
Clinical negligence time limits in England and Wales: the usual three years, date of knowledge, children, capacity, claims after death and section 33.
- Getting your medical records
How to get medical records in England and Wales: subject access requests, who to contact, response times, the NHS App, others’ records and after a death.
- How a clinical negligence claim works
How a clinical negligence claim is investigated and pursued in England and Wales: medical records, experts, the Letter of Claim, settlement and court.
England
Complaining about NHS care in England, advocacy, and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
- Complaining about NHS care in England
How to complain about NHS-funded care in England: provider or commissioner, the 12-month time limit, what happens next, advocacy, PALS and the Ombudsman.
- PALS: help with NHS concerns in England
What PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) does in England: when it helps with a hospital concern, how it differs from a complaint, and finding yours.
- Free NHS complaints advocacy in England
Free independent NHS complaints advocacy in England: who can use it, how an advocate helps, how it differs from PALS, and how to find your local provider.
- Complaining to your ICB: provider or commissioner?
When to complain to an integrated care board (ICB) about NHS care in England, how that differs from complaining to the provider, and NHS England’s role.
- The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
How the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman handles NHS complaints in England: eligibility, the one-year limit, remedies and legal action.
Wales
Raising a concern about NHS-funded care in Wales under Listening to People, free advocacy from Llais, redress, and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
- Complaining about NHS care in Wales
Raising a concern about NHS care in Wales under Listening to People, which replaced Putting Things Right on 1 April 2026, with Llais and the Ombudsman.
- Listening to People explained
What Listening to People is, the two stages it works through, the listening discussion the NHS must offer, and how it differs from a clinical negligence claim.
- NHS Wales redress and the £50,000 limit
What NHS Wales redress is, when it can include money, what its upper limit does and does not mean, and how it differs from a negligence claim.
- Llais: free complaints advocacy in Wales
What Llais advocacy does and does not do when you raise a concern about NHS care in Wales: free, independent support under Listening to People.
- Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
What the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales can and cannot do about NHS care: when it applies, its time limits, and how it interacts with NHS redress.