Delayed Treatment And Delayed Diagnosis Negligence Claims

By Megan Uley. Last Updated 16th November 2022. Modern medical techniques can provide people with a higher standard of care and treatment than ever before. But it is crucial that treatment is performed as soon as possible in order to be effective. Delayed treatment could cause the patient’s condition to deteriorate and provide an obstacle to their full recovery. In some cases, delayed treatment could even result in death.

Delayed treatment and delayed diagnosis negligence claims guide

Delayed treatment and delayed diagnosis negligence claims guide

In some cases, delayed treatment may be necessary or unavoidable. But delayed treatment caused by negligence is a form of medical negligence. Medical negligence that impacts the patients’ health could make the patient or their family members eligible to make a claim for medical negligence compensation.

Our website is dedicated to providing people with information about how and when they could make a claim for medical negligence compensation. You can read through this page to find out about making negligence claims for delayed medical treatment caused by medical negligence, as well as following the links to other pages for related topics.

If you would like to know more about making a delayed treatment medical negligence claim, you can get in touch with our advice team. You can speak to them about your situation to find out whether or not you could be entitled to claim compensation. They can put you in contact with one of the medical negligence solicitors on our panel who can help you win the compensation you deserve.

To reach them, call 0800 652 3087, or send a message to our online claim page. There is also the pop-up live chat at the bottom of the page.

Select A Section

  1. What Is Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence?
  2. Causes Of Delays In Medical Treatment
  3. Who Could Be Responsible For Diagnostic Delays?
  4. Delayed Treatment For An Infection Or Illness
  5. Delayed Surgery Negligence
  6. Delays To Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment
  7. Delayed Fracture Treatment
  8. Delayed Diagnosis Claims – Evidence Examples
  9. Medical Negligence Claim Eligibility Checker
  10. Time Limits For Delayed Treatment Claims
  11. Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence Calculator
  12. No Win No Fee Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence Claims
  13. How Our Team Could Help You
  14. Rates Of Medical Negligence
  15. Helpful Information
  16. Medical Negligence FAQs

What Is Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence?

Sometimes there will be delays to performing treatment or a surgical procedure that result from factors outside of doctors’ control. For example, the Coronavirus pandemic caused many operations and appointments to be delayed by putting additional strain on the NHS. However timely treatment is often essential to ensure the patient’s recovery. Not carrying out treatment at the earliest possible opportunity without good reason may be considered a form of medical negligence that could put the patients’ health at risk.

Medical negligence is the term used to name incidents where a doctor or other practitioners, such as a GP, a midwife or nurse fails to uphold the standard of care expected of them. There is a certain standard of quality and professionalism that has to be met, and if it is not met whether because of mistakes or neglect, there could be grounds for claiming compensation.

Medical negligence could cause your treatment to become delayed. If a delay caused by the lack of competency causes you to suffer a new injury or your condition develops more than it needed to this could be considered for medical negligence compensation.

You can call our advice team to find out if the circumstances of your delayed treatment constitute medical negligence and whether you could be entitled to make a compensation claim.

Causes Of Delays In Medical Treatment

There are a number of different ways in which medical failures could result in delays to a patient’s treatment. The path to treatment begins when a patient is first seen by medical professionals for their symptoms. If negligence is present here there are a number of different things that could go wrong along the way. Some of the potential reasons why treatment could be delayed could include:

  • Being improperly triaged in A&E
  • Being misdiagnosed by a doctor
  • Being referred to the wrong specialist
  • Not being sent on to further testing and scans
  • Lack of staff and resources due to inadequate management

Other causes of delays to medical treatment could be identified if there is an investigation. Call our claims team using the contact details above. They will go through the aspects of your case with you and can provide a clear picture of whether you have a valid case.

Who Could Be Responsible For Diagnostic Delays?

A delay in diagnosis could occur at multiple different points with different individuals responsible. Doctors and other hospital or surgery staff could cause a delay in diagnosis or treatment. Below is a list of examples of the kind of negligence that could cause a delay in diagnosis.

  • Administrative errors causing you to have a needlessly long waiting period for an appointment.
  • Negligence in A&E causing failures to diagnose, triage, and treat the patient
  • Failure by a GP to properly diagnose a patient due to not listening
  • Failing to refer a patient to receive scans or tests, or an examination by a specialist due to a negligent diagnosis
  • Doctors performing tests or scans incorrectly
  • The results of tests and scans being misinterpreted
  • The results of tests and scans being lost or not sent to the correct recipient

A delay in your diagnosis could have severe consequences. You could be entitled to make a compensation claim if your diagnosis was delayed as a result of medical negligence. However, you must be able to show how medical negligence caused you harm that would not have occurred to have a valid claim. 

Delayed Treatment For An Infection Or Illness

Delaying treatment for an infection or an illness could allow it to spread and get worse.  The worse an illness or an infection gets, the longer the recovery it requires will be. Untreated infections and illnesses can also cause the victim to suffer more pain, discomfort, and disruption of their lives. In some circumstances, a delay to a patient’s treatment can even lead to death. Delaying treatment of a patient’s illness or injury through negligence could be grounds for claiming medical negligence compensation. More on this in the sub-heading below.

Delays Causing An Illness To Become Terminal

If you have been given a terminal diagnosis that could have been a treatable diagnosis if it had been diagnosed sooner, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Compensation could be awarded for the pain and distress that you experience in anticipation of the end of your life.

You could also be entitled to claim compensation if a loved one has passed away or has received a terminal diagnosis as a result of a failure to diagnose an illness sooner due to medical negligence. You could claim compensation for the bereavement, the pain and suffering they went through as well as compensation if the person who died was someone you were financially dependent on. This is called a wrongful death negligence compensation claim.

Delayed Surgery Negligence

In many situations, prompt surgery could be key to saving a patient’s life or preventing an illness or injury from developing complications. Removing a tumour, for example, maybe something that is necessary to be done quickly in order to prevent further health complications.

If surgery is delayed, the patient may be required to undergo multiple or more invasive surgical procedures in order to address the problem. Or they could Be left with permanent health problems as a result of an illness or injury being allowed to develop past the point where surgery could effectively treat the issue.

Surgery could be delayed by a number of issues. Including a misdiagnosis of your injury or illness, poor administration, and poor management of manpower and resources in the hospital or trust in which you were treated.  If you have been affected by medical negligence delayed surgery, you could be entitled to make a surgery negligence compensation claim.

Delays To Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment

It is crucial that cancer is diagnosed early on in order to make sure that it can be treated effectively. The longer cancer goes untreated the more severe its effects will be. In some cases, failure to detect and diagnose cancer could allow cancer to become terminal.

If you’ve had cancer misdiagnosed or you have been the victim of a delayed cancer diagnosis and this happened because of poor quality of care you may be eligible to make a medical negligence claim for compensation. You could also be entitled to claim bereavement compensation if a loved one has passed away due to a negligent delayed cancer diagnosis.

Delayed Fracture Treatment

Bones often require some help from doctors in order to fully heal properly. This may not be able to be done properly and promptly if the fracture is missed or misdiagnosed or if the diagnosis is late. A delayed fracture diagnosis could lead to the bone setting wrong, potentially causing disfigurement or disability. Failure to diagnose and treat a fractured bone properly could cause the fracture to get worse. Leading to either permanent health problems or a longer recovery and a more intensive treatment process.

It is reasonable to expect that doctors will be able to diagnose a fracture, or at least recognise the signs of one, and to refer you to an X-ray or CT scan to receive confirmation. To be entitled to claim compensation for a missed diagnosis of a fracture.it needs to be proven that the missed fracture was due to medical negligence. Also that this delay in treatment caused the fracture to worsen more than it would have.

Delayed Diagnosis Claims – Evidence Examples

Evidence is crucial for proving that medical negligence took place for delayed diagnosis claims. Some of the potential evidence that you could gather and collect to help support your claim could include:

  • Correspondence with the medical institution where the medical negligence
  • Evidence of any symptoms you experienced before you received your diagnosis. This could be a diary stating your symptoms, photographs of any physical symptoms or a copy of your doctor’s notes stating your symptoms during a medical appointment.
  • A copy of your medical records stating when you were given your diagnosis and when you received treatment. This could help prove that you received delayed treatment for your condition.

Remember, not all cases of delayed diagnosis can lead to a claim. You can only make a claim if you can prove that because a medical professional breached their duty of care, you suffered avoidable harm.

To find out whether you are eligible to make a delayed diagnosis claim, contact our advisors today.

Medical Negligence Claim Eligibility Checker

In order to make a claim for medical negligence compensation for delayed treatment and diagnosis, you would have to meet three conditions. They are as follows.

  • That negligence took place
  • That you were harmed because of the negligence that would not have happened

It may not always be clear whether if a breach in the duty of care medical professionals have for their patients has occurred. To establish this, the Bolam test may be used. This asks a panel of peers whether they believe the physician acted in accordance within their professional standards. Did their capabilities lack? If it is agreed that the medical professional acted appropriately then it is unlikely that medical negligence will be considered.

If you would like to speak to a member of our team about whether or not you could be entitled to make a medical negligence claim, you can use the contact details provided.

Time Limits For Delayed Treatment Claims

The Limitation Act 1980 places a three-year time limit on most forms of personal injury claims, this includes medical negligence claims. This means you must start your claim within these 3 years. This time limit begins when the effects of medical negligence and its causes are diagnosed. It is advisable to seek legal counsel as soon as you can in order to make the most of this window of opportunity.

Exceptions can be made to time limits in the cases of people who were children when the negligence occurred. They could become entitled to make a claim once they have turned 18 if a litigation friend has not done so on their behalf already. They have 3 years from their 18th to start a claim.

If a person was not able to make a claim on their own behalf due to mental illness, or mental or physical disability, they could be eligible to apply for an extension of the time limitation period once they have recovered their legal competency in order to claim on their own behalf.

Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence Calculator

Delayed treatment can have a number of different effects. The scale of the harm done can vary from one individual case to another. The amount of compensation you could be entitled to claim needs to be calculated to reflect this. Using the medical evidence gathered, and the Judicial College Guidelines the amount of compensation your injuries and illness represent can be calculated.

Compensation can be awarded in general damages and special damages. General damages are awarded for the physical harm done as a result of medical negligence. Special damages are awarded for the harm done to your financial situation by the medical negligence through things like medical bills and loss of earnings.

InjuryDescriptionAmount
Kidney(a) Both kidneys are either lost or permanently damaged.£169,400 to £210,400
Female Reproductive System(a) Infertility that could have resulted from failing to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy - upper end of the bracket will tend to be awarded to those with significant medical complications.£114,900 to £170,280
Female Reproductive SystemPermanent sexual dysfunction in a person with no children that may include significant medical complication such as ectopic pregnancies or multiple surgeries.£43,010 to £102,100
Male Reproductive SystemTotal loss of the male reproductive organs.In excess of £153,870
BowelsA complete loss of the bowel's natural function. The person may also depend on a colostomy depending on their age.Up to £150,110
Epilepsy(b) Established Petit Mal - Whether attacks can be controlled by medication, the effect on social life and the prognosis will affect how much is awarded.£54,830 to £131,370
Lung Disease(b) Lung cancer in an older person that caused significant pain and impairs the lungs function. This will impact the person's quality of life.£70,030 to £97,330
Lung DiseaseDiseases such as emphysema that worsens the functioning of the lungs and impairs the person's breathing.£54,830 to £70,030
Digestive system(b)(i) Severe toxicosis that causes vomiting and acute pain. The person may be admitted into hospital for a few days or weeks.£38,430 to £52,500
Spleen(a) The spleen is lost and there is a risk of internal infections due to the immune system being damaged.£20,800 to £26,290

No Win No Fee Delayed Treatment Medical Negligence Claims

If you have decided that you want the help of a medical negligence solicitor to pursue your case with you, you may be wondering how a No Win No Fee agreement would work for you.

A No Win No Fee solicitor and yourself would sign an agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement. This would mean their fee is conditional on the case being a success. If the case is won they would receive a percentage of your compensation settlement. This is capped. If the case does not succeed you would not have to pay your solicitor’s fees.

A No Win No Fee claim may be less risky, and could also serve as an indication that your medical negligence solicitor is confident that the claim will succeed. The solicitors you could work with through us can make No Win No Fee claims. To find out whether you could make a medical negligence claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor, contact us.

How Our Team Could Help You

Our team could answer questions you have about making a delayed treatment negligence claim. They could assess whether you could be eligible to claim compensation. They could put you in touch with a medical negligence solicitor to make a compensation claim.

To reach them, call 0800 652 3087, or send a message to our online claim page. There is also the pop-up live chat at the bottom of the page.

Rates Of Medical Negligence

The number of new claims raised against the NHS in 2018/19 was 10,678, compared to 10,673. This represents a negligible increase of 0.08%. 11,417 clinical negligence claims were settled, with 56% without being awarded damages. One particularly common area for claims is Obstetrics, which represented 10% of claims (the third-largest amount overall ) but 50% of the value of damages paid out for claims. This information comes from the NHS litigation body NHS Resolution.

Helpful Information

How do I make a claim against the NHS

Stroke misdiagnosis compensation claim

Other Misdiagnosis Claims

Medical Negligence FAQs

What do I need to show to prove negligence?

In order to make a claim for medical negligence, you will need to prove two key points. The first one is that medical negligence did take place, in other words, to provide proof that the medical care you received was below the standard expected from doctors. The second point you need to prove is that the medical negligence resulted in you suffering harm. Without either one of these two points, you would not be eligible to make a medical negligence claim.

Who do I claim against?

When you make a medical negligence claim the claim could be made against either an individual medical practitioner or against the organisation that they work for. Usually, if you are making a claim concerned with the NHS is will be against a trust. Or against a private health clinic if organisational failings have resulted in negligence, or if the failings of an individual practitioner in private health care caused you harm you could claim against the individual. In cases of gross negligence, the claim could be made against the individual doctor.

Will I need to go to court?

There is a chance that you might have to go to court. The case could go to court if the doctor or the medical practice they work for contests your claim. If your claim does go to court, your solicitor can represent you. However, most cases are resolved by a settlement before they reach the court hearing stage.

Do I have to have a medical assessment?

You will need the assessment of an independent medical expert in order to prove that you have suffered from medical negligence. A medical assessment can be used to prove that your delayed treatment was negligent and that your health was impacted as a result.

Guide by Jack

Edited by LisM.