Bowel surgery claims

The first step in making a bowel surgery claim is to speak to a specialist clinical negligence solicitor. Bowel surgery claims are complex, and it’s important to choose a firm with appropriate legal expertise and established relationships with independent medical experts.

When you contact us, we’ll listen to what happened and give you an honest, objective assessment of whether you have a claim. If you decide to go ahead, we’ll request your medical records, instruct independent experts to assess your care, and manage the entire process on your behalf.

It’s also worth knowing that you can make a written complaint to the NHS Trust or the private hospital involved. This can provide answers and sometimes lead to changes in practice, though it runs separately from a legal claim. Call us today for a free initial consultation.

It’s difficult to give a precise timescale because every case is different. Claims involving ongoing health problems, such as a permanent stoma, further surgeries, or long-term complications, can take longer to resolve. This is because we need to fully understand your future prognosis before we can accurately value your claim. Settling too early risks leaving you without the support you’ll need in the long term.

We’ll need to obtain independent medical evidence setting out how your care fell below the expected standard, and what injuries and losses resulted as a consequence. How the other side responds also affects timescales. An early admission of liability can speed things up, but if the claim is defended, it will generally take longer.

Where an early admission is made, we may be able to secure an interim payment to fund support while the claim continues. We’ll give you realistic timescale guidance as your case progresses, and we always aim for early settlement where it’s in your best interests.

To have a valid claim, we need to establish three things: that a duty of care was owed to you, that the duty was breached, and that, as a direct result of that breach, you suffered harm that you would otherwise have avoided.

We work with independent medical experts to assess whether your care was negligent and whether that negligence caused or contributed to your injury. If an expert agrees that both breach of duty and causation are established, you have a good basis for a claim.

A claim may also be possible if you were not given accurate information about the risks of your procedure or the reasonable alternatives before you consented to it. If you would have chosen differently had you been properly informed, this may form the basis of a consent‑related claim.

If you’re unsure, speak to us. We’ll give you an honest view of your situation.

In most cases, you have three years from the date of your injury, or from the date you first realised that your injury may have been caused by negligence, to bring a claim. This is known as the date of knowledge.

There are some exceptions. For example, the time limit for children runs from their 18th birthday, and it may be extended in cases involving a lack of mental capacity. If you’re unsure whether you’re still within the time limit, speak to us as soon as possible. Our team can advise you on your circumstances.

Yes, in many cases. Having a pre-existing condition, such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or bowel cancer, does not prevent you from making a claim if negligent care made your situation worse than it should have been.

The question we need to answer is whether the negligence caused or contributed to harm beyond what you would have experienced with proper treatment. Independent expert evidence helps us establish this, and we’ll guide you through what this means for your specific situation.

From the moment you contact us, we’ll make sure you feel informed and supported at every stage. We’ll explain clearly what’s happening with your claim, what comes next, and what we need from you, so nothing feels unexpected.

Where possible, we’ll seek to secure interim payments to help cover immediate costs, such as specialist equipment, stoma supplies, or treatment. If your needs are significant, we can also discuss access to rehabilitation and wellbeing support.

We’ll handle the legal and administrative complexity of your claim so you can focus on your recovery. And we’ll always be honest with you about the strength of your case, the likely timescales, and what a realistic outcome might look like.