GP Negligence Compensation Claims

GP Complaint Specialists

The GP surgery is the first port of call for most people who feel unwell. The GP will listen to the symptoms you report and run tests to see what the cause of the symptoms could be. From there, they’ll make a diagnosis and prescribe medication, recommend treatment, or refer their patient to a specialist doctor.

Sometimes they get it wrong, and the process isn’t followed properly, or things are missed. When this happens, it’s classed as a form of GP negligence. If you’ve seen your GP and you’ve been misdiagnosed or the doctor hasn’t examined you properly, you might be able to make a claim for GP negligence.

At Been Let Down, our solicitors are skilled in helping families and individuals pursue claims for GP negligence. Get in touch with a member of our legal team today and we will listen to the specifics of your case and advise if you have a potential GP negligence claim.

What is GP negligence?

Symptoms are signs that indicate what a condition or illness could be. By finding out what your symptoms are, the GP will know what examinations and tests are needed. These tests then lead to the correct diagnosis and treatment plan for you.

Every visit to your GP is meant to follow The National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s guidelines. These are updated regularly and are designed to help GPs offer treatment and, where necessary, refer patients. If your GP doesn’t follow these guidelines or they miss a key part of the processes outlined in the guidelines, you might experience GP medical negligence.

Some examples of this type of negligence include:

• Failure to investigate the symptoms you’re experiencing
• Failure to properly examine you
• Failure to perform or arrange appropriate tests
• Failure to respond to test results
• Misdiagnosing your illness or condition
• Prescribing the wrong medication
• Failure to provide or arrange treatment
• Failure to refer to hospital or referring you to the wrong specialist
• Performing inappropriate procedures or performing procedures without the correct expertise
• Failing to act on information provided by other medical professionals

If you suffered any of the above when you attended your GP, you might be able to claim compensation. Whether your doctor failed to take your symptoms seriously or you have been misdiagnosed, we’re here to help.  Talk to us and we’ll take you through the GP negligence claims process.

Why make a claim for GP negligence compensation?

When your GP behaved negligently towards you, they failed in their duty of care and put you at risk. You might find that their actions – and in some cases, inactions – have led to your condition getting worse. This means their negligence has meant you’ve suffered for longer. It might even be that their negligence had led to further complications and you need more invasive treatment as a result.

This can all have an impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing, too. This can be a highly stressful situation and it would be understandable if you lost confidence in GPs after something like this.

Compensation for the money you’ve lost in this case can be essential for your financial as well as your general wellbeing especially if you might have also had to miss work because of GP medical negligence.

Our team is here for you if you want to pursue a claim. We know that negligent treatment by someone you trust can be damaging, and we want to help guide you through the GP negligence claims process so you can begin your recovery.

How do I make a GP medical negligence compensation claim?

Making a GP negligence claim can give you the opportunity to move forward with your recovery after what happened.

If you’ve reached a stage where you think the time has come to make a claim, contact our team and we’ll find out what happened to you. When you talk to our team, you’ll find that we take you slowly and carefully through everything, asking you several questions.

What type of questions will they ask?

You’ll be asked about the symptoms you had, what you told the GP, and what the GP did next. We’ll also ask you about how the GP’s negligence has affected your health and any other ways that their negligent treatment has impacted on your life.

These questions are designed to get the full picture and establish if you can put forward a case for GP negligence. One of our solicitors will then look at the details to find out how your doctor has behaved negligently. The more details you can give, the better, as this will help us understand what level of compensation you might be entitled to. You might also be able to claim for money you’ve lost from not being able to work, physical or mental pain, travel expenses, and any stress that you’ve suffered.

What happens next?

If we think we can take on your claim, we’ll talk to you about what happens next. We’ll take you through the claims process, so you know what to expect.

Are you worried about making a claim?

The relationship you have with your GP is not like the one you have with other medical professionals. You might have known them for a long time, and they may well have cared for your whole family over the years.

We appreciate that factors like these can make pursuing a claim awkward or uncomfortable. However, if you’ve experienced negligence because of their actions or failure to act, it’s important that you are able to recover. Seeking a claim for compensation is one way that you might be able to recover from what happened.

Claims like these are managed by the GP’s medical defence organisation or insurers NHS Resolution. This is an organisation that acts like an insurance company. and ensures any damages awarded don’t come out of the NHS budget for treating patients.

Is there a time limit for making a GP negligence claim?

When you make any type of claim, including GP medical negligence claims, time limits apply. You usually have three years from the date of negligence, or your date of knowledge to make a claim, so talk to our experts as soon as you can after the negligence occurred. This will give you enough time to put your claim forward and for you to win the compensation you’re entitled to.

Why choose Been Let Down for my GP negligence claim?

By choosing Been Let Down, you’ll receive the highest quality service from a team of experts. We’re skilled in successfully bringing GP medical negligence claims and we’re ready to help you.

Here’s why we are well-placed to help you:

• Authorised and regulated legal practice

We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA set the professional standards that solicitors need to adhere to in England and Wales.

• Experienced solicitors

We have specialist knowledge gained across a wide spectrum of GP negligence claims.

• High success rates

You’ll be supported by a qualified solicitor from day one, with our legal experts able to advise you on whether or not you have good grounds for a successful GP negligence claim.

We take on many cases on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis

Once we’ve assessed your negligence claim and decided that you could have a successful case, we will investigate your funding options. You may have an existing insurance policy that will cover the costs of pursuing your case, or you may be eligible for public funding, if not, we’ll consider  taking your case on a No Win No Fee basis utilising what’s called a Conditional Fee Agreement. This simply means that if we’re not successful in pursuing your claim, providing that you have not be dishonest or fraudulent and have complied with our reasonable requests in pursuing the claim, there will be no charge.

Contact us today 

If you think that you have been let down, suffered injury, and emotional distress as a result of GP negligence, get in touch today. We will work with you throughout your claim and help you get back on the road to recovery.

Call us on 0800 234 3234 or contact us and a member of our legal team will call you back.