When medical treatment doesn’t go as planned, it’s natural to wonder whether something went wrong that shouldn’t have. But there’s an important distinction between clinical negligence and what we might call medical accidents or unavoidable complications.
Understanding this difference is crucial if you’re considering legal action or simply trying to make sense of what happened during your care.
Medical accidents: when things go wrong despite good care
Medicine isn’t an exact science. Even with the best care, complications can occur. These medical accidents happen when:
- Known risks materialise – Every medical procedure carries risks. If your surgeon explains there’s a 2% chance of nerve damage during an operation, and you’re unlucky enough to be in that 2%, this isn’t negligence – it’s an unavoidable complication.
- Rare reactions occur – Some patients have unexpected reactions to medications or treatments that couldn’t reasonably be predicted, even with proper testing and precautions.
- Diagnosis is genuinely difficult – Some conditions are notoriously hard to diagnose, especially in early stages. If symptoms could reasonably point to several different conditions, an initial misdiagnosis might not be negligent.
Think of footballer Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a match in 2012. Despite receiving immediate medical attention from qualified professionals, his heart stopped for 78 minutes. The medical team’s response was exemplary, but the cardiac arrest itself was an unforeseeable medical emergency, not negligence.
Clinical negligence: when care falls short
Clinical negligence occurs when the care you receive falls below reasonable standards, and this substandard care causes harm.
- Clear departures from accepted practice – If a surgeon operates while under the influence of alcohol, or a nurse gives medication without checking patient identity, these are clear breaches of duty.
- Ignoring obvious warning signs – When symptoms clearly point to a serious condition, but healthcare professionals dismiss or ignore them without proper investigation.
- System failures – When hospital procedures break down, leading to delayed treatment, lost test results, or communication failures between medical teams.
Real-world examples
Let’s look at some scenarios to illustrate the difference:
Scenario 1: post-operative infection
- Medical accident: Despite proper surgical technique and post-operative care, a patient develops an infection due to their own reduced immune system
- Clinical negligence: A patient develops an infection because surgical instruments weren’t properly sterilised, or post-operative wound care was inadequate
Scenario 2: medication reaction
- Medical accident: A patient has a rare, unpredictable allergic reaction to a medication they’ve never taken before, despite proper allergy checks
- Clinical negligence: A patient suffers adverse effects because medical staff failed to check their known allergies before prescribing medication
Scenario 3: birth complications
- Medical accident: Despite proper monitoring and care, an unpredictable complication occurs during labour, requiring emergency intervention
- Clinical negligence: Warning signs of foetal distress are ignored or misinterpreted, leading to preventable birth injuries
The “Bolam Test” in practice
Courts use the Bolam test to distinguish between accidents and negligence. This asks whether the healthcare professional acted in accordance with practices accepted by a responsible body of medical opinion.
This means there can be different approaches to treatment, and choosing one accepted method over another isn’t negligent. However, failing to follow any accepted approach, or acting in a way no reasonable medical professional would, likely constitutes negligence.
For instance, there might be two accepted surgical techniques for a particular condition. If complications arise from either technique, this isn’t necessarily negligent. But if the surgeon uses a technique that’s widely considered outdated or dangerous, this could be negligence.
The emotional impact
Understanding whether you experienced negligence or an accident can be important for emotional healing. Many patients feel angry or betrayed when treatment goes wrong, wondering if it could have been prevented.
If you suffered a genuine medical accident, this doesn’t diminish your experience or the impact on your life. However, understanding that your healthcare team followed proper procedures and couldn’t have prevented what happened might help with coming to terms with the situation.
Conversely, if negligence occurred, you have every right to feel let down by the system meant to protect you, and you may be entitled to compensation and answers.
When to seek legal advice
If you’re unsure whether you experienced negligence or an accident, specialist legal advice can help clarify the situation. Clinical negligence solicitors work with medical experts who can review your case and determine whether care fell below acceptable standards.
Even if you ultimately don’t have a negligence claim, getting expert opinion can provide valuable closure and help you understand what happened.
Learning from both
Whether an incident was negligent or accidental, healthcare providers should learn from what happened. Good medical practice involves reviewing all adverse events to see if procedures can be improved to prevent similar occurrences.
If you’ve been affected by either negligence or a medical accident, don’t hesitate to ask questions about what happened and what’s being done to prevent similar incidents in the future.
How can we help?
Matthew Olner is a Partner in our Medical Negligence team, which is ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500, and Commended in The Times Best Law Firms 2025.
If you’re unsure whether your experience was negligence or an unavoidable complication, contact Matthew or another member of our specialist team who can review your case and provide clear, honest advice about your situation. Please contact Matthew or another member of the team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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