Getting compensation for medical misdiagnosis
When you head to the hospital or your local GP practice with a problem, the last thing that you expect is to fall victim to medical misdiagnosis. Suffering from a medical misdiagnosis in the context of medical negligence is however a common problem faced by patients of medical practitioners around the UK.
What is medical misdiagnosis and how does it occur?
Medical misdiagnosis often occurs when a hospital or health worker fails to investigate or examine symptoms correctly. This then results in an incorrect diagnosis and a failure to provide appropriate and timely treatment. In other words, a medical negligence misdiagnosis is when the medical professional gets the diagnosis of a condition wrong. Medical misdiagnosis can also occur when a medical practitioner fails to diagnose a medical condition completely, leading to unnecessary suffering and pain.
All these circumstances can lead to lack of treatment, incorrect medication being dispensed and/or unnecessary surgery – all of which can worsen the extent and impact of any illness or injury.
If a medical practitioner misdiagnoses a condition or fails to diagnose completely, it can have a long-lasting effect on a patient’s health. At Been Let Down, we can help you to pursue a medical misdiagnosis claim and achieve the outcome for which you are looking.
What types of medical misdiagnosis claim are there?
When considering a medical misdiagnosis claim in the UK, it is important to know that this area of negligence covers an enormous range of different medical issues.
If you have lost trust in the medical doctors treating you, in many cases you may feel like you have nowhere to turn.
If this is the case, you should contact a trusted medical negligence misdiagnosis solicitor from Been Let Down. We can advise you on your legal options, guide you on medical misdiagnosis claims and, in many cases, support your search for appropriate medical care.
The most common types of medical negligence that can qualify for medical misdiagnosis compensation include situations such as:
- Doctors failing to investigate symptoms leading to unnecessary suffering, even allowing the condition to become terminal in some cases
- Doctors failing to refer patients for further investigations or for specialist review
- Misreporting and making errors when reviewing diagnostic scans, biopsies and smear tests
- Doctors failing to identify and/or diagnose fractures and other musculoskeletal injuries
- Misreading and/or failing to identify abnormalities in test results leading to inaccurate advice and inappropriate treatment given by a GP, surgeon or other medical professional
Which medical conditions are common in medical misdiagnosis claims?
Unfortunately, there are many conditions that can be misdiagnosed by health professionals. Failing to diagnose any injury or illness can result in further complications such as an impact on mental health, deterioration of physical health and even death.
We have listed some of the conditions that can lead to serious complications if not diagnosed at the earliest opportunity:
- Cancer– One of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases. Because cancer can present itself with symptoms similar to other, less serious, illnesses it can unfortunately be missed by health professionals. Caused by abnormal cells in the body that begin to divide uncontrollably, this build-up may form a malignant tumour and the cells may also spread to other parts of the body. A delay or failure in diagnosis can harm your chances of fighting the condition. Our experienced medical misdiagnosis team will be able to talk you through your cancer misdiagnosis claim options.
- Fractures- It is not unusual for breaks to bones to be missed on x-rays which can have serious consequences, even amputations. Sometimes the window for conservative treatment with plaster is missed and then avoidable surgery is the only option.
- Appendicitis – This needs to be treated as a matter of urgency with surgery to remove the appendix. If your appendix ruptures or bursts, it can lead to life-threatening infections, abscesses or blood poisoning. If you have reported pain in your lower right abdomen with other symptoms like an elevated temperature, vomiting and diarrhoea but a health professional has failed to act quickly, you could be eligible to make a medical misdiagnosis claim.
- Ectopic pregnancy– This occurs when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb in one of the fallopian tubes. As the embryo grows, it can stretch the tube, eventually causing it to rupture. When these types of medical misdiagnosis claims are made, it is usually for the pain and suffering caused by the delay in diagnosis. If you have experienced a delay, contact our team today.
- Meningitis – This life-threatening condition must be treated as a medical emergency. Failure to do so could be critical. The symptoms for which to look out are a combination of a fever, non-blanching rash, vomiting, neck pain, drowsiness and convulsions. If a medical professional has missed your or a loved one’s symptoms, get in touch to see if you can claim medical misdiagnosis compensation.
How do I find an expert medical misdiagnosis solicitor?
If you have experienced medical negligence of medical malpractice, you may be able to make a misdiagnosis claim, whether against your GP, an NHS hospital or a private medical facility.
Medical malpractice misdiagnosis claims take into account any pain and/or injury caused or worsened by the medical misdiagnosis suffered. They also factor in any other financial impacts such as loss of earnings and/or ongoing medical care.
If you feel as though you have been let down and have suffered injury and emotional distress because of a failed or inaccurate diagnosis of a condition, you are not alone. Talk to us and we will listen to you to find out if you have a claim.
At Been Let Down, our team of solicitors are ideally equipped to help you explore all of your legal options. Via a free and no-obligation initial consultation, we can provide you with the expert legal insight of our team.
If we take on your legal representation, we can help with factors such as evidence-gathering, and we will keep you informed at every stage of your claim process so that you know exactly where you stand. Thanks to our wealth of medical negligence experience in courts across the country, we are the leading option if you are considering a claim.
Why trust Been Let Down with your medical misdiagnosis compensation claim?
If you are looking for impartial advice about medical malpractice and misdiagnosis claims, here is why you should come to us:
- Authorised and regulated legal practice
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA sets the professional standards to which solicitors need to adhere in England and Wales.
- We’re experts in our field
Our expert medical negligence team has gained specialist knowledge across a wide spectrum of medical misdiagnosis claims. They have been recognised as experts in medical negligence by The Law Society, Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.
- High success rates
You will be supported by a qualified solicitor from day one. Our legal experts can advise you on whether or not you have good grounds for a successful medical misdiagnosis claim and whether you are likely to receive medical misdiagnosis compensation.
- Many of our cases are No Win No Fee
Once we have assessed your claim and decided that you could have a successful case, we will consider various methods to fund your claim.
The majority of our cases are taken on a No Win No Fee basis, through what is called a Conditional Fee Agreement. This simply means that, if we are not successful in pursuing your claim, there will be no charge. This is unless the medical misdiagnosis claim is deemed to be fraudulent, or you have failed to comply with our reasonable requests to pursue your claim.
Should we win your medical malpractice or misdiagnosis claim, we will take our fee from your compensation. This is a percentage of the compensation that you are awarded, which we will agree with you beforehand.
Medical misdiagnosis FAQs
Yes, you can. If you have fallen victim of medical negligence or misdiagnosis, you are well within your rights to make a claim.
To be successful in your pursuit for medical misdiagnosis compensation, you will need to prove that:
- There was negligence on the part of the medical professional.
- This negligence led directly to an injury or caused your condition to get progressively worse.
As medical negligence is a complex area of law, the best thing to do is get in touch with us if you think that you have a medical misdiagnosis claim. We will listen to your circumstances and, based upon our decades of experience, advise on whether we think your claim is likely to succeed.
Then, it will be your decision as to whether you wish to proceed.
Yes, it is. A medical misdiagnosis is a type of medical negligence. That means that you can make a claim if you feel as though your healthcare provider has failed in their duty of care to you and you have suffered an injury as a result.
Medical misdiagnosis claims can be brought against a medical professional or GP for failing to spot an illness in an appropriate timeframe.
If you think you might have been medically misdiagnosed, the first thing to do is get in touch with one of our medical negligence experts. From there, we will be able to assess whether we think that you have grounds for a medical misdiagnosis claim based on your circumstances.
If you think you have been misdiagnosed, it can be difficult trusting the medical professionals that have provided you with substandard care. However, as well as seeking expert legal advice, it is important that you carry on treatment.
Under UK law, medical professionals cannot refuse you treatment due to an ongoing complaint. However, you can request to be transferred if you would feel more comfortable doing so.
Yes, you do.
You must bring a medical misdiagnosis claim within three years of the initial incident. Where you have been medically misdiagnosed, the date of the ‘incident’ is defined as the day on which you received the correct diagnosis and were made aware that a prior diagnosis was wrong.
However, there are some exceptions to the rule:
- If you are claiming on behalf of a child, you have until their 21st birthday to bring a claim.
- If you are claiming on behalf of a patient who has a serious brain injury, rendering them unable to claim independently, there is no time limit.
Not normally, no. According to data by NHS Resolution, in 2021/22, 77% of proceedings were settled out of court. However, there may be instances in which going to court is necessary for you to get the medical misdiagnosis compensation that you deserve.
Here at Been Let Down, we will always try to settle matters out of court if we can.
You can indeed. Although you may be worried about taking budget from the NHS by making a claim, making a medical misdiagnosis claim does not affect the NHS budget. Complaints against the NHS (such as medical misdiagnosis claims) are handled by NHS Resolution. NHS Resolution is a specialist insurance company designed for the NHS, so there is generally a pot of money available to resolve medical misdiagnosis claims.
Yes, you can.
If you have paid for specialist treatment only to be misdiagnosed, you might rightly feel upset, angry and frustrated. If so, the good news is that you can make a claim against a private healthcare provider if you are bringing it within three years of the incident in question.
Under General Medical Council guidance, all private healthcare providers are required to have liability insurance to cover disputes that arise. Due to this, cases can often be more complex and can take longer to resolve.
If you think that you have a medical misdiagnosis claim, it is important that you have a legal team that know how to handle these kinds of cases. If you think that you might have grounds for a medical misdiagnosis compensation claim, get in touch with our experts.
Contact us today to begin your medical misdiagnosis claim
To find out more about our range of legal services surrounding a medical misdiagnosis, get in touch with our team at Been Let Down today on 0800 234 3234 or complete the online claim form in our contact section.
Our friendly team will listen to you, answer any questions that you may have and arrange your free consultation so that you know exactly where you stand with your medical misdiagnosis claim.
- Accident & Emergency (A&E) Compensation Claims
- Brain Injury
- Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Bowel Cancer
- Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claims
- GP Negligence Compensation Claims
- Gynaecological Medical Negligence
- Medication Errors and Negligence Compensation Claims
- NHS Medical Negligence Claims
- Ophthalmic Claims
- Orthopaedic Injury
- Surgical Errors Compensation Claims
Neil is a qualified Solicitor and Head of the Bolton Clinical Negligence Department at Been Let Down.
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