Hospital-Acquired Infections and Sepsis: Can You Claim for Medical Negligence?

You can bring a clinical negligence claim for a hospital-acquired infection or sepsis if you can show that the infection or the harm that followed from it was caused by a failure in the standard of care you received. Not every hospital-acquired infection is the result of negligence, since some infections occur despite proper precautions, but where hygiene standards slipped, infection control protocols were not followed, or an infection was not identified and treated promptly, a claim may well be justified.

This guide explains how these claims work, what you need to establish, and what the process of investigating and pursuing a claim actually involves.

What Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection?

A hospital-acquired infection, sometimes called a healthcare-associated infection or HCAI, is an infection that a patient develops during their stay in hospital that was not present or incubating on admission. Common examples include:

• MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a bacterial infection that is resistant to many antibiotics and can cause serious complications if it enters the bloodstream or a surgical wound
• C. difficile (Clostridioides difficile), a bacterial infection of the gut most commonly seen in patients who have recently had antibiotic treatment
• Surgical site infections, arising from bacteria entering a wound during or after surgery
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections, arising from improper insertion or inadequate management of urinary catheters
• Ventilator-associated pneumonia, affecting patients in intensive care who are on mechanical ventilation

These infections are recognised by NHS England and the Health and Safety Executive as being largely, though not entirely, avoidable. That distinction is central to any legal claim.

What Is Sepsis, and How Does It Relate to Negligence?

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to an infection begins to damage its own tissues and organs. It can develop rapidly and, without prompt treatment, can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death. Sepsis is not in itself a negligence issue, since it is a natural biological response to infection. The question for any clinical negligence claim is whether:

1. The underlying infection was avoidable in the first place, or
2. The signs and symptoms of sepsis were not recognised and acted upon with appropriate speed once they presented

Both failures can form the basis of a claim. Delayed recognition of sepsis is a particularly significant area, since the condition is well understood and the clinical indicators are clearly established. Where a patient presents with symptoms consistent with sepsis and a healthcare professional fails to act on them in a timely way, and the patient suffers serious harm as a result, this can amount to negligence.

What Do You Need to Prove?

The legal framework for hospital-acquired infection and sepsis claims is the same as for any clinical negligence case. You need to establish three things:

Duty of care. Hospitals and the healthcare professionals who work within them owe a duty of care to their patients. This is rarely in dispute.

Breach of duty. The care you received fell below the standard expected of a reasonably competent healthcare professional in the relevant role. Courts apply the Bolam test when assessing this, asking whether a responsible body of medical opinion would have acted in the same way. The Bolitho principle supplements this by requiring that any such body of opinion be capable of withstanding logical scrutiny, so a defendant cannot simply produce an expert who says the care was acceptable if that view is not defensible on the evidence.

In the context of hospital-acquired infections, breach of duty typically involves evidence of one or more of the following:

• Poor hand hygiene among clinical staff
• Failure to follow sterile procedures when inserting catheters, cannulas or other devices
• Inadequate cleaning of the clinical environment
• Failure to screen patients appropriately for infection risk on admission
• Delayed or missed recognition of the signs of infection or sepsis
• Delayed prescribing of appropriate antibiotics once an infection was identified
• Failure to follow established sepsis protocols

Causation. The breach caused your harm, or materially contributed to it. This is often the most technically complex part of a hospital infection claim, since it requires establishing not just that you developed an infection, but that the infection or its consequences would have been avoided, or significantly reduced, had proper care been provided.

The Importance of the Health Act 2006 and Infection Control Obligations

NHS trusts and other healthcare providers in England are subject to a legal Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections, introduced under the Health Act 2006. This Code sets out clear obligations on healthcare organisations, including requirements for board-level leadership of infection prevention, staff training, robust cleaning regimes, and systems to detect and respond to infection outbreaks. A failure to meet these standards does not automatically establish negligence in a legal sense, but it is directly relevant evidence of whether an organisation’s infection control measures fell short of what was reasonably expected.

What Makes an Infection “Avoidable”?

This is the central question in most claims, and it is one that requires independent medical expert evidence to answer properly. Not all hospital-acquired infections result from negligence. Some patients are highly susceptible to infection because of their underlying health conditions, the nature of their treatment, or the medications they are receiving. An infection occurring in these circumstances, despite reasonable infection control measures, would not generally give rise to a successful claim.

What distinguishes an avoidable infection is evidence that proper protocols were not in place or not followed, creating a risk of infection that a competent healthcare provider would have prevented. Expert evidence will assess what the relevant standards and protocols required at the time, whether those standards were met, and whether adherence to them would, on the balance of probabilities, have prevented your infection or its most serious consequences.

Sepsis Misdiagnosis and Delayed Treatment Claims

Delayed or missed diagnosis of sepsis is one of the most serious and unfortunately recurring failures in hospital negligence claims. The clinical indicators of sepsis are well recognised and include raised temperature or abnormally low temperature, elevated heart rate, rapid breathing, altered consciousness and signs of organ dysfunction. Where these indicators were present and documented but not acted upon with appropriate urgency, this can be powerful evidence of breach of duty.

The harm in these cases is often catastrophic. Sepsis that is not treated promptly can lead to amputations, permanent organ damage, severe cognitive impairment, or death. The greater the delay in treatment, the more significant the avoidable harm, and the clearer the causal link between the failure to act and the outcome.

If a loved one has died following what you believe was a delayed response to sepsis, a claim can still be brought on behalf of their estate. This is a difficult and emotionally significant step, but for many families it is also a meaningful way of establishing what happened and ensuring it is acknowledged formally.

How Long Do You Have to Make a Claim?

The standard three-year limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980 applies to hospital infection and sepsis claims, running from either the date of the negligent treatment or your date of knowledge that the harm may have resulted from negligence. As with all clinical negligence claims, exceptions apply for children and those lacking mental capacity. Because investigating these claims properly takes time, it is sensible to seek advice well before any deadline. For a full explanation of how time limits work in clinical negligence cases, see our guide to medical negligence time limits.

What to Do Next: Starting a Claim

If you believe you or a family member suffered avoidable harm from a hospital-acquired infection or delayed treatment for sepsis, the practical steps are as follows:

1. Request the relevant medical records. A solicitor can do this on your behalf, including nursing records, infection control logs, and any incident reports connected to your stay.
2. Seek an initial assessment. A specialist clinical negligence solicitor will review the circumstances and advise on whether there are reasonable grounds to investigate further.
3. Independent expert evidence is obtained. Experts in the relevant clinical field assess whether the care provided met the required standard and, crucially, whether any failure caused or contributed to your harm.
4. A letter of claim is sent. This sets out the allegations and the basis of the compensation sought, following the relevant pre-action protocol, and gives the defendant an opportunity to respond before court proceedings become necessary.

Most claims of this nature are resolved through negotiation, but having an independently and properly evidenced case from the outset places you in the strongest possible position throughout.

Talk to Us

Hospital-acquired infections and sepsis claims require a level of clinical and legal expertise that goes beyond most standard personal injury work. At Satchell Moran Solicitors, our specialist clinical negligence team understands both the medical complexity and the human impact of these cases, and we act on a no win, no fee basis so there is no financial barrier to finding out whether you have a claim. As a dual Lexcel accredited firm, we are committed to the highest standards of client care throughout the process.

If you or a family member has suffered harm from an avoidable infection or delayed treatment for sepsis, contact us today for an initial, confidential conversation.