Can I Claim For An Injury At Work In The NHS?

Regardless of where you work, all employers owe a duty of care to their employees under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This means that employers have to take reasonable steps to ensure that their employees are safe when they are working.

If an employee becomes injured at work due to the employer breaching their duty of care, this is known as negligence.

Negligence forms the accident at work claim eligibility criteria, which are as follows:

Your employer owed you a duty of care.
Your employer breached their duty of care.
You were injured as a result of this breach.

If you can prove that each of the above applies to your circumstances, please reach out to us today. Our advisors can chat with you and connect you with a specialist No Win No Fee solicitor from Advice if you’re eligible for compensation.

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What Workplace Accidents Could Lead To A Compensation Claim?

Here are some illustrative examples of how an employer could breach their duty of care and cause an employee to be injured:

There is no training provided on the correct use and disposal of safer sharps. This could lead to a needlestick injury.
A staff member is asked to manually handle a heavy load, but due to the weight of the load, two staff members should have been assigned instead of one. This could lead to a back injury and other musculoskeletal disorders.
There is a spillage on the floor, but no wet floor signs have been provided. This could cause slip and fall injuries, such as broken bones.
All equipment should have regular risk assessments and maintenance checks. So, using faulty equipment (such as a broken trolley to move dirty bed linen) could cause multiple injuries, such as lacerations and crushing injuries.

There are numerous other ways how employer negligence could potentially occur that haven’t been mentioned above. So, it is advised that you contact us today to discuss your specific circumstances with our team.

What Is The NHS Injury Allowance?

NHS employees may be able to receive the NHS injury allowance if they have taken time off work to recover from an illness or injury sustained due to employment.

The NHS injury allowance is a benefits scheme that tops up any reduced earnings or sick pay (up to 85%) to employees who have suffered either a:

Temporary loss of earnings.
Permanent loss of earnings.

Other NHS Injury Benefits You Might Be Entitled To

In addition to the NHS Injury Allowance, you may also be entitled to claim other benefits. These include:

Permanent Injury Benefit (PIB) – for long-term or permanent loss of earnings due to an injury at work in the NHS. This benefit is managed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA)
Temporary Injury Allowance (TIA) – this provides an income top-up to 85% of your pre-injury pay for temporary absence from work.
Union support schemes – organisations such as the RCN and UNISON can advise on applying for these benefits.

Remember, these benefits are separate from personal injury compensation, and you may be eligible for both. Making an injury at work in the NHS claim will not only recover your loss of earnings, but will compensate you for all of your suffering and losses. To make a free claim enquiry, please contact us today.

Can I Claim Compensation If I’m Receiving The NHS Injury Allowance?

Yes, you can still claim compensation for an injury at work, even if you’re receiving the NHS injury allowance. This is because the NHS injury allowance only addresses your loss of earnings, whereas compensation can compensate you for the other losses that you may have suffered due to your injury or illness. We discuss what these other types of losses could be further down this guide.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For An NHS Injury?

The Limitation Act 1980 states that the time limit to begin a personal injury claim is 3 years from the date that negligence occurred.

However, if the claimant is either:

Younger than 18.
Lacking full mental capacity.

Then this time limit is paused.

Whilst the 3-year time limit is paused, a litigation friend can make the claim on the claimant’s behalf. However, if a litigation friend has not started the claim for the claimant by the time they either:

Turn 18.
Regain full mental capacity.

Then the usual 3-year time limit will begin as usual from these dates (the date of their 18th birthday or of their recovery).

To ensure that you can begin your claim for an injury at work in the NHS on time, please contact us today.

What To Do After An Injury At Work In The NHS

After suffering an injury at work in the NHS, you should immediately seek medical attention, report the incident to your line manager, and ensure that it’s recorded in the workplace’s accident book.

After these immediate steps, you should consider doing these things:

Document everything about the accident as soon as possible, while the memory is still fresh in your mind.
Start to collect evidence, such as requesting CCTV footage, taking photos of the accident scene, and gathering contact details from witnesses. After you have sought medical attention, you should also request copies of your medical records and make a note of what symptoms you’re suffering/what treatment you’re receiving.
Seek legal advice for guidance on how to claim compensation for your suffering. If you connect with our specialist No Win No Fee solicitors, they can get the claims process started.
You can contact your unison, such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), for support.
Ask about your NHS Injury Allowance. This can top up your income while you recover.

For help with what to do after an injury at work in the NHS, please contact us today.

What Evidence Can Help Support A Compensation Claim?

Evidence is really important in showing how negligence has occurred.

Some useful types of evidence include:

CCTV footage that captures the accident happening.
A copy of your incident report from the workplace’s accident book.
Copies of your medical records that show the extent of your illness or injury.
A personal diary that details what symptoms you have suffered and what treatment you need.
Contact details from anyone who may have witnessed your accident, such as a colleague.
Photographs of any visible effects of your illness/injury.
Photographs of the causation of your workplace accident. For example, a photograph of any faulty equipment.

You may not know where to start with collecting all of this evidence. This is why collecting evidence is a part of our solicitors’ services. If you are connected with one of them, they can gather your evidence for you.

So, contact us today to see whether you can receive this help.

How Much Compensation For An Injury At Work?

If a claim for an injury at work in the NHS is successful, there could be two heads of claim that can make up the compensation. These are called general damages, and special damages.

General damages are awarded in all successful accident at work claims. This head of claim compensates you for the physical and psychiatric effects you have suffered from your injury. Some examples of factors that are considered under general damages include:

Loss of amenity.
The severity of the pain.
The length and extent of the recovery period.

You could be asked to have an independent medical assessment at some point during the accident at work claims process. Legal professionals can use the reports from this assessment and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help calculate this head of claim.

Within the JCG are guideline compensation values for different physical and psychiatric injuries/illnesses.

Guideline Compensation Brackets

We have taken some injuries that could potentially be suffered from an injury at work, and have included them in the below list. We have also included their accompanying guideline compensation values from the JCG (except for the top value).

However, please bear in mind that because every claim is unique, none of these values can be guaranteed should your potential claim be successful.

Up to £1,000,000+ – multiple serious injuries and financial losses, such as medical bills.
£344,150 to £493,000 – a very severe brain injury, such as ‘locked-in’ syndrome that substantially reduces life expectancy.
£183,190 to £267,340 – a moderate brain injury, where there is a moderate to severe personality change and intellect deficit.
£117,360 to £159,770 – a severe arm injury, such as a serious brachial plexus injury.
£8,060 to £23,430 – a simple forearm fracture injury.
£66,920 to £141,240 – severe psychiatric damage, where there are marked problems with most factors in the person’s life, such as the ability to cope with work.
£7,150 to £23,270 – moderate psychiatric damage, where the prognosis is good and problems with factors in the person’s life will improve by trial.
£102,470 to £133,810 – a very severe foot injury, such as traumatic amputation of the forefoot.
£90,510 to £107,910 – a severe back injury, where there is nerve root damage and associated loss of sensation.

What Are Special Damages?

Special damages are awarded in some successful accident at work claims. This head of claim compensates you for the financial losses you have suffered from your injury. This can include:

Any loss of earnings from not being able to work while you recover.
Domestic care costs.
Medical bills.
Travel expenses to and from hospital appointments.

Since special damages might not always be awarded, proving your financial losses is essential. So, please keep hold of any bank statements, invoices, payslips, and receipts.

To learn more about how injury at work compensation is calculated, please contact us.

Claim Accident At Work Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis

If you’re eligible to claim accident at work compensation, our team could potentially connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from Advice.

Here are some of the benefits of using our solicitors. They can:

Collect your evidence for you (as previously discussed).
Correspond with the defendant for you.
Explain any unfamiliar legal terminology to you.
Update you throughout the case.
Sort legal representation for you if the case goes to court.
Ensure the compensation is correctly valued.
Ensure the case is filed within the relevant time limits.

Additionally, our solicitors provide these services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), if you are connected to one.

When claiming accident at work compensation with a solicitor under a CFA, you do not have to pay for their services:

Before the claims process begins.
During the entire claims process.
If your claim is unsuccessful.

If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t be charged directly out of pocket. Instead, your solicitor can take a small percentage of your compensation. This is called a success fee, and is capped by the law to make sure you definitely receive most of the compensation.

So, contact us today if you want to enquire about making an injury at work in the NHS claim. Our team are available 24/7 and can listen to your circumstances for free:

Call 0161 509 2856.
Fill out our ‘contact us’ form.
Message an advisor from our office directly using our live chat box.

Learn More About Making Personal Injury Claims

Here are some of our related personal injury claims guides:

Find out whether you can still claim compensation if you are partially at fault for a workplace accident.
More information on how to prove an injury at work and how it was caused by a breached duty of care.
Find out how to claim compensation for a hand injury at work.

Additionally, these pages might be useful:

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – more information and advice about the NHS injury allowance.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – look at the latest accident at work annual statistics here.
NHS – how to view your medical and health records.

Thanks for reading our guide on whether you can claim for an injury at work in the NHS. Please remember that our friendly team can answer any questions you may have.

Meet the Team

Gemma Shields

Chartered Legal Executive | Road Traffic Accident Claims Specialist

Gemma Shields is a CILEx qualified legal professional with over a decade of experience in road traffic accident claims, including pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist cases. She provides clear, compassionate legal support to clients across England and Wales.

Can I Claim For An Injury At Work In The NHS?

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