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Specialist claims
Care Home Clinical Negligence Claims
Care-home clinical negligence claims can involve failures to assess risk, administer medication, prevent avoidable injury or obtain appropriate medical help. Poor care alone does not establish a claim; the failure must have caused avoidable harm.
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Could this apply to you?
1
Deterioration not recognised or escalated
2
Medication omitted, delayed or administered incorrectly
3
Falls risks not assessed or managed
Last updated 9 October 2026
Understanding the claim
When might a claim be investigated?
A poor outcome alone does not prove negligence. The investigation considers what a reasonably competent healthcare professional should have done and whether any failure made a material difference to the outcome.
Deterioration not recognised or escalated
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Medication omitted, delayed or administered incorrectly
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Falls risks not assessed or managed
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Pressure sores or wound care not addressed
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Dehydration, malnutrition or infection not acted on
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Poor records, handovers or safeguarding responses
This can justify investigation depending on the clinical circumstances, available evidence and harm caused.
Clinical care in a care-home setting
Care homes have different staffing and clinical arrangements, but residents should receive care appropriate to their assessed needs. The investigation may consider the home’s responsibilities and when external medical help should have been requested.
Common pathways of harm
Potential concerns can overlap, such as reduced mobility leading to pressure damage, poor intake contributing to deterioration or medication errors increasing falls risk. A chronology helps identify what happened and what difference reasonable care may have made.
Claims, complaints and safeguarding
A complaint, safeguarding enquiry and compensation claim have different purposes. Information from those processes may be relevant, but none automatically proves civil liability.
Evidence
What evidence may help?
Relevant evidence depends on the circumstances. Common sources include:
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Care plans, daily notes and risk assessments
The evidence is considered alongside the chronology and appropriate independent expert opinion.
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Medication administration records
The evidence is considered alongside the chronology and appropriate independent expert opinion.
03
GP, hospital and community nursing records
The evidence is considered alongside the chronology and appropriate independent expert opinion.
04
Independent nursing and medical expert evidence
The evidence is considered alongside the chronology and appropriate independent expert opinion.
Useful next steps
Guidance related to care home clinical negligence
Care-home clinical negligence guide
See how records, risk assessments and medical escalation may be reviewed.
Pressure sores and wound care
Read focused guidance on pressure-damage prevention and treatment.
Check your circumstances
Start an enquiry for yourself or a relative.
The process
What happens after an initial enquiry
- 01
Initial enquiry
Tell us what happened, when the treatment took place and how you were affected.
- 02
Early assessment
The key facts, limitation position and whether further investigation may be appropriate are considered.
- 03
Records & evidence
Relevant medical records, chronology and evidence of any financial losses may be obtained.
- 04
Expert review
Appropriate independent experts may address breach of duty, causation, condition and prognosis.
- 05
Claim & negotiation
Where the evidence supports a claim, the relevant defendant can be notified and liability or settlement discussed.
- 06
Resolution
The matter may conclude by agreement or, where necessary, through the court process.
Compensation
What can compensation take into account?
There is no reliable generic calculator for medical negligence. Where liability is established, compensation can reflect the individual injury and financial consequences supported by evidence.
- Pain, suffering and loss of amenity
- Past and future loss of earnings
- Care and assistance
- Rehabilitation and treatment
- Equipment, travel or accommodation needs
- Other reasonable losses caused by the injury
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Tell us what happened.
Questions answered
Care Home Clinical Negligence FAQs
Can I make an enquiry for a relative in a care home?
Yes. Who can formally instruct solicitors or bring a claim depends on capacity, authority and the individual circumstances.
Does a safeguarding finding prove negligence?
Not automatically. It may provide relevant evidence, but a civil claim still requires the legal tests for breach of duty and causation to be met.
Can falls in a care home lead to a claim?
Potentially, where reasonable risk assessment or precautions were omitted and that failure caused an avoidable injury. Not every fall can be prevented.
What records may be available?
Care plans, daily notes, incident records, medication charts and health-service records can all be relevant, depending on the concern.
Related guidance
Useful medical negligence guides
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