When we attend hospital or a GP appointment, we expect to be given the correct standard of care, diagnosed promptly and accurately and if necessary, be referred for additional treatment. A misdiagnosis can have significant and lasting impacts on your daily life. That’s why we have made this guide to medical misdiagnosis claims.
We’ll cover key expects of the medical negligence claims process including the eligibility criteria, some commonly misdiagnosed conditions and how compensation is determined during the claims process. We have also provided a compensation table with some guideline figures for your reference.
Towards the bottom of the page you will see a short examination of how our dedicated medical negligence solicitors can help you, and the particular No Win No Fee contract they can provided their services under.
To find out more about the medical negligence claims process or to get a no obligation eligibility assessment at zero cost to you, contact our advisory team today using the details provided here:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
- Start your claim online by completing our call back form.
- Open the live chat window on your screen now.
Key Takeaways
- Medical misdiagnosis can constitute medical negligence if the correct standard of care has not been provided and avoidable harm is caused.
- There are many reasons why a misdiagnosis could occur, such as incorrectly interpreted scans or errors during testing.
- Almost any medical condition could be misdiagnosed. We’ve set out a few possible examples in our guide.
- Compensation can be awarded for two different heads of loss.
- Our solicitors can offer their services on a strictly No Win No Fee basis.
Select A Section
- What Is Medical Misdiagnosis?
- Is Misdiagnosis Always An Example Of Negligence?
- How Do I Know If I Have A Medical Negligence Claim?
- Commonly Misdiagnosed Conditions
- How Can Medical Misdiagnosis Impact Me?
- How Much Compensation Could I Get For Misdiagnosis?
- Can Legal Expert Help Me Make A Misdiagnosis Claim?
- Learn More
What Is Medical Misdiagnosis?
Medical misdiagnosis is where a medical condition is missed or wrongly diagnosed as something else. This can range from a mild inconvenience to a potentially life altering, and indeed life threatening, occurrence.
Is Misdiagnosis Always An Example Of Negligence?
Not always. To be deemed medical negligence, the medical professional must have failed to provide the correct standard of care and caused you to experience avoidable harm. “Avoidable harm” means any harm caused that would not have occurred if the medical professional had met the correct standard of care.
This means that, while you may be dissatisfied with the care you received, this does not mean a breach of duty has occurred. You can follow your provider’s procedure to make a complaint for misdiagnosis, however a medical negligence claim if there has been a breach in the duty of care and avoidable harm has been caused.
We set out the criteria to make a medical negligence claim below, and our advisors are on hand 24/7 to provide further guidance. Talk to us today via the contact information given above.
How Do I Know If I Have A Medical Negligence Claim?
All medical professionals, irrespective of their field of practice or level of experience, have a duty of care to their patients to provide care that meets the correct standard. This duty covers both public and private healthcare settings.
The eligibility criteria for medical misdiagnosis claims are as follows:
- You were owed a duty of care by a medical professional.
- This duty was breached through a failure to provide the correct standard of medical care.
- The misdiagnosis caused you to experience avoidable harm.
You can get a free eligibility assessment by talking to our advisory team today.
Commonly Misdiagnosed Conditions
In this section, we examine some of the most common conditions that could be subject to a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosed altogether. There are a number of different ways this could happen.
Examples can include:
- A cancer misdiagnosis can occur if scans are performed improperly and the cancer is therefore missed.
- You experienced a pneumonia misdiagnosis after doctors failed to identify clear symptoms and told you that you had a minor cold.
- A fracture in your ankle was not identified due to the doctor not ordering an x-ray and misdiagnosed as a sprain. You continued to walk on your ankle and due to the missed fracture, significant damage was caused.
There are many other conditions that could be subject to an incorrect diagnosis. So, to find out more about medical misdiagnosis claims in your particular circumstances, talk to our advisory team today.
How Can Medical Misdiagnosis Impact Me?
A medical misdiagnosis can have a broad range of impacts. Examples can include:
- More aggressive treatment may be required if a condition has progressed further due to being missed.
- Additional harm may be caused. As in our example above, continuing to walk on a missed fracture can result in a much more severe break as well as damage to soft tissues.
- Lost earnings due to needing much more time off work.
- The psychological impacts of ill health can also not be ignored. Being misdiagnosed and having to undergo longer treatment can take a significant mental toll.
How Do I Prove A Misdiagnosis Claim?
Evidence is a key part of medical misdiagnosis claims. You will need to provide proof that will demonstrate the fault of your healthcare provider. Your evidence will also help those handling your claim to determine an accurate compensation figure.
Examples of evidence you could use to prove medical negligence can include:
- The medical records show the misdiagnosis. This can be copies of scans, test results, or notes from an exploratory surgery. You can also provide records from any subsequent treatment you had.
- The contact information of possible witnesses. If someone attended your appointment with you, they could provide a statement, so make sure you have their up to date contact details.
In cases of potential medical negligence, the bolam test may be employed. This is where a group of medical professionals from the relevant field assess the care you received and determine whether or not the correct standard was met.
This isn’t something you need to worry about organising yourself and the test is not used in every claim. However, if the bolam test is used, any findings from it can be submitted as part of your evidence. You can ask any questions you may have about gathering evidence, and get a free eligibility assessment by contacting our advisory team today.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For Misdiagnosis?
Compensation in successful medical misdiagnosis claims can be awarded under two different heads of loss. These are:
- General damages: compensation for physical and psychiatric harm.
- Special damages: reimbursement for financial losses caused by that harm. More on this head of loss in a later section
Those responsible for determining a potential general damages figure can refer to your medical documents in conjunction with the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG set outs guideline award figures for different types of harm. We have used a selection of those figures in the table here.
Compensation Table
Please be advised that this information has been included for guidance purposes only. The top entry is not a JCG figure.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Guideline Award Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Instances of Very Severe Harm with Substantial Special Damages | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000 + |
| Brain Damage | Moderately Severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Moderate (c)(i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | |
| Kidney | Serious and Permanent Damage or Loss of Both Kidneys (a) | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Total Loss of Function (b) | Up to £78,080 | |
| Lung Disease | Progressive Worsening and Premature Death (a) | £122,850 to £165,860 |
| Lung Cancer(b) | £85,460 to £118,790 | |
| Ankle Injuries | Severe (a) | £38,210 to £61,090 |
| Moderate (b) | £16,770 to £32,450 | |
| Knee Injuries | Moderate (b)(ii) | Up to £16,770 |
Special Damages In Misdiagnosis Claims
As we said above, special damages is the second head of loss that medical misdiagnosis compensation may be awarded under. Special damages aim to not only quantify the costs that have been incurred, but also future losses and the impact on your daily life.
It is for these reasons that special damages compensation is often significantly higher than that paid out under general damages. Examples can include:
- Loss of earnings due to time taken off work for treatment or recovery.
- Loss of future earnings if you are unable to return to work or take on reduced hours.
- Medical expenses like private treatment, therapy, and prescriptions.
- Care needs including help with meal preparation, cleaning and looking after dependents if you are unable to carry out these tasks safely on your own.
- Modifications to your home such as a stairlift or accessible shower, in cases where your mobility has been affected.
- Travel costs if you are unable to drive due to the harm you have sustained.
Claiming special damages will require you to submit supporting evidence. Make sure you keep copies of any documents that show the losses you have sustained. This can be your payslips, invoices for care, receipts and travel tickets.
Can Legal Expert Help Me Make A Misdiagnosis Claim?
At Legal Expert, we have years of experience in handling medical negligence claims and winning compensation for clients. To find out if you are eligible to make a medical misdiagnosis claim, contact our advisors for a free assessment today.
Our solicitors can offer their services under a particular type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The CFA brings with it a number of key benefits including:
- You will not have to pay a fee for work to commence on your case.
- There will also be no ongoing fees during the actual claims process.
- Finally, if your claim does not succeed, you won’t be paying anything for the solicitor’s work.
If your claim succeeds, medical negligence compensation will be paid out for the avoidable harm caused, and potentially associated financial losses too. Some of the payout will go to the solicitor’s success fee. But, as The Conditional Fee Agreement’s Order 2013 imposes a limit of 25% on success fees, you know from the outset that most of anything paid out will be yours to keep.
Choosing The Right Solicitor
The most important thing when choosing a solicitor is making sure they have the right knowledge and experience to give your claim the best chance of success. At Legal Expert, our solicitors operate to the highest standards of professionalism and discretion and can support throughout the claims process with tasks such as:
- Calculating a potential compensation figure.
- Communicating with the defendant’s representatives on your behalf.
- Explaining all the legal jargon.
- Negotiating a final compensation amount.
- Ensuring any court instructions and deadlines are complied with.
To find out more about the medical negligence claims process or to get a no obligation eligibility assessment at zero cost to you, contact our advisory team today using the details provided here:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
- Start your claim online by completing our call back form.
- Open the live chat window on your screen now.
Learn More
You can read some of our medical negligence claims guides by clicking below:
- Find out if you could claim for wrongly prescribed antidepressants with this guide.
- Learn more about what to do if a hospital missed a lumbar fracture and caused you avoidable harm.
- Read this guide on how medical negligence compensation is calculated under the two relevant heads of claim.
We have also provided some external resources for more information:
- Read the advice for claimants from NHS Resolution.
- Learn what constitutes good medical practice from the General Medical Council (GMC).
- The Care Quality Commission are the regulator for health and adult social care in England. You can learn about the work they do on their website.
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide to medical misdiagnosis claims. You can get more information, as well as a free eligibility assessment by talking to our advisory team today. You can reach an advisor 24 hours a day via the contact information given above.
