Self-help guides
AvMA’s self-help guides have been written by experts to help guide you through the process of taking action following a medical injury. In clear and straightforward language, they set out the procedures you will need to follow, and legal rights and obligations, and contain useful contact details for regulatory bodies, advice services and other organisations that may be of help.
Our core guides are also available in a large print version. Please let us know which guide you would like. For ways to access our services, please see here.
If you would find it helpful to have a guide read aloud to you, please find here free accessible apps to use for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Go to:
- General information
- Making a complaint about NHS or private healthcare
- Accessing medical records
- Brain injuries at birth and other birth injuries
- Help with an inquest
- Raising concerns about a healthcare worker
- Making a legal claim for compensation
- Making a claim for compensation: Frequently asked questions
- Support
1. General information
How AvMA can help when things go wrong in healthcare
Your rights
The duty of candour: What it means for patients and their families
Applying for probate or letters of administration
How to complain about a solicitor
Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB)
2. Making a complaint about NHS or private healthcare
Starting the NHS complaints process
Comprehensive guide to NHS complaints process in England, the Ombudsman and beyond
Making a complaint to the NHS in Scotland
Making a complaint to the NHS in Wales
Cwyno i’r GIG yng Nghymru (Welsh language)
Making a complaint about health and social care in Northern Ireland
Complaining about private healthcare
Dental cases
Sample complaint letter
Serious incident reports
Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
3. Accessing medical records
Access to medical records
Template letter requesting your medical records
Template letter requesting medical records on behalf of your child who is under 18
Template letter requesting medical records on behalf of a person who is 18 years + with or without capacity issues
Template letter requesting medical records for a deceased person
A template for giving authority to access medical records
4. Brain injuries at birth and other birth injuries
Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI)
Early Notification Scheme (ENS) Investigations
Advice for parents acting for babies & children
Claims for birth injuries
5. Help with an inquest
Inquests into deaths following medical treatment
What can I do if the Coroner has decided no inquest or post mortem is required?
Template letter to request an inquest is opened
Ministry of Justice guide to coroner’s services
6. Raising concerns about a healthcare worker
Health professionals fitness to practise
Raising concerns about doctors
Raising concerns about nurses, midwives and nursing associates
Raising concerns about dental professionals
7. Making a legal claim for compensation
Legal action: Bringing a claim in (clinical) medical negligence in England
Legal action: Bringing a claim in (clinical) medical negligence in Northern Ireland
Legal action: Bringing a claim in (clinical) medical negligence in Scotland
Legal action: Bringing a claim in (clinical) medical negligence in Wales
Mynd i gyfraith hawlio iawndal yng Nghymru (Welsh language)
8. Making a claim for compensation: Frequently asked questions
Things to consider when choosing a solicitor
How to approach a lawyer for the first time
Understanding legal costs: the principles
Understanding legal costs for medical negligence claims
Funding options in clinical negligence claims
Time limits for bringing a clinical negligence claim (limitation)
Court of Protection
Settling a clinical negligence claim
Medical negligence – what compensation can I claim?
Compensation where someone has died
Damages (compensation) for mental harm
Private healthcare – making a claim for compensation
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) / Alternatives to litigation
Clinical negligence claims: litigants in person
Independent review by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
Judicial review
9. Support
Counselling and psychological support following avoidable harm in healthcare
Bereavement – specialist agencies and charities
Mental Health – Legal Aid specialist firms, CAPA, Community Care and FAQs
Is there a guide that we don’t have that you would have found useful? We are always looking to expand our range of guides so please let us know and we will see if we are able to produce a guide on that subject.
If you find these guides helpful, please consider leaving feedback to help us improve our services.
