by Rebecca Finley for McCollum Consultants
The recent case of 32-year-old Oli Coppock, who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after a CT scan was not ordered during an A&E visit, highlights the potentially life-altering consequences of missed diagnosis or delayed treatment.
Oli had previously received treatment for a brain tumour and had also been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When he attended Warrington Hospital’s emergency department in May 2024 with bad headaches and dizziness, he was discharged without being given brain scan. A week later, fluid had built up on his brain, and he suffered a cardiac arrest that has left him paralysed.
The rise in A&E negligence claims across England
Oli’s tragic story is just one part of a wider trend of rising negligence claims relating to A&E care in England. According to the BBC’s analysis of NHS Resolution data, there were more than 1,623 A&E related clinical negligence claims in 2025/26, compared with 1,151 in 2020/21. This reflects an increase of around 41% over five years. A&E is now the single largest area for clinical negligence claims by volume, with the value of claims exceeding £550 million in 2025.
This sustained rise is deeply concerning, particularly given that this pattern isn’t being seen across other areas such as maternity and orthopaedics. Emergency departments are facing numerous mounting pressures, from increasing demand and complex care needs, to staffing shortages and unsuitable internal communication systems. As recent as September 2026, a report published by the National Audit Office on A&E performance concluded that improvements to care were not proportionate to spending increases on staffing and resources.
How negligence cases in A&E are assessed
A&E clinicians are often required to make decisions quickly, based on limited information and before the diagnosis is known – but it is crucial that a patient’s medical history and symptoms are appropriately acted upon. When assessing whether the care given to a patient amounted to negligence, an expert needs to consider what information was available to the treating clinicians at the time, whether appropriate investigations and tests were undertaken, and whether significant symptoms and medical history were recognised and acted upon.
In Oli’s case, this meant looking closely at what treating clinicians knew about his medical history and the symptoms that were serious enough to bring him to A&E. The question wasn’t just whether his eventual condition was inevitable, but whether the information clinicians had should have prompted a CT scan. The Trust has accepted that failure to conduct a CT brain scan was a breach of duty and that, on the balance of probabilities, the scan would have identified the fluid build-up and led to surgery to address it.
The importance of the right expertise
As A&E-related claims continue to increase, the need for experts with appropriate experience of emergency medicine will only grow. For legal teams, finding the right expert isn’t just about finding someone who understands the relevant medical condition, but someone who can also draw on knowledge of the modern clinical practice. In the case of A&E claims, this means being able to examine clinical decision making within the context of the pressures facing emergency departments, so they can distinguish between an unavoidable poor outcome and care that contributed to avoidable harm.
Where negligence is established, securing fair compensation can determine whether a families can access ongoing therapies, care and home adaptations needed to rebuild life after a catastrophic injury. Delays in reaching a settlement can compound the harm already experienced, so having a reliable expert is central to getting cases resolved without unnecessary delays.
McCollum Consultants works closely with legal teams to source experts who combine deep clinical knowledge with efficiency and transparency, helping to ensure that cases like Oli’s are assessed fairly and thoroughly, so families can access the support they need.