How To Claim If A GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer

This guide will explain how to claim compensation if a GP failed to diagnose cancer. When you seek medical attention from a medical professional, you’re owed a minimum standard of care.

GP failed to diagnose cancer guide

If your doctor deviates from this standard, then this is an example of negligence. As a result, you could require more severe treatment. In some cases, wrongful death could occur as a result

If you want to know whether you are eligible to claim compensation after a negligent failure to diagnose cancer has impacted your health, please get in touch with us today. An advisor can speak to you in-depth about your ordeal. If they feel you have grounds to sue the NHS for negligence, our panel of solicitors will start working on your claim.

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Misdiagnosis Of Cancer By A GP
What Is Misdiagnosis Of Cancer By A GP?
Types Of Cancer Misdiagnosis
Could You Claim If Your GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer?
What Could You Claim If A GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer
Check How To Claim If Your GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer

Misdiagnosis Of Cancer By A GP

If you have concerns about your health, you might choose to make an appointment with your GP. A GP can examine your symptoms, prescribe medication and offer advice about treatment. Furthermore, in the case of more serious illnesses and conditions, they can make a referral for you to the relevant specialist.

In some cases, however. you might go to your GP with symptoms that indicate cancer, but they fail to make the correct referral. If this happened as a result of medical negligence, then you might be able to claim.

In some cases, a GP may have GP failed to diagnose cancer because of factors outside of their control. For example, you might not have symptoms that are typical of the cancer you’re suffering from, meaning your doctor misses it. This would not be a result of medical negligence, and therefore you would not be able to claim.

For more information on claiming for the harm caused by a delayed diagnosis of cancer, speak with an advisor today.

What Is Misdiagnosis Of Cancer By A GP?

You cannot claim compensation just because misdiagnosis of cancer occurred. But if you can show that your cancer was misdiagnosed as a result of negligence, you might be able to claim.

Below, we’ve included some examples of how negligence could lead to a misdiagnosis:

Your GP brushes off your concerns instead of listening and acting accordingly
The GP listens to your concerns and symptoms, but they fail to connect your symptoms with cancer and therefore diagnoses you with something else mistakenly
You explain your concerns and they tell you that they will make a referral to a cancer specialist, but because of a lapse of memory, they forget to do this

Please contact Medical Negligence Assist today to see if you have legitimate grounds to claim after a GP failed to diagnose cancer. If you do, one of our advisors could connect you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.

Types Of Cancer Misdiagnosis

Cancer is a condition where it’s really important that it’s diagnosed promptly. The more it progresses, the more serious the treatment you need could be. In some cases, it might progress to the point where it can no longer be treated.

Below, we’ve included some examples of the kinds of misdiagnosis that could occur:

Delayed diagnosis. This is where the condition is not spotted as early as it should have been. It can mean more intensive treatment, as the cancer has been able to spread.
Missed diagnosis. A missed diagnosis means that your doctor fails to spot your condition altogether. As well as the physical impact this has on you and your treatment, you might suffer from anxiety or depression at being repeatedly dismissed by your doctor.
Misdiagnosis. This is where your condition is mistakenly diagnosed as something else. This could delay your treatment, but also could mean that you get treatment for a condition you don’t have. This could cause you harm.

For free legal advice on what to do if your GP failed to diagnose cancer as a result of medical negligence, speak with an advisor today.

Could You Claim If Your GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer?

To claim compensation for cancer misdiagnosis, proof of medical negligence entails proving that:

The GP owed you a duty of care. If you were a GP patient, they would have had a legal duty of care towards you.
They provided a substandard level of care, resulting in their failure to diagnose your cancer.
The GP misdiagnosing your cancer harmed you.

When you’re making a compensation claim, you can provide evidence in support of your case. This could include:

Medical records. All of your appointments with your GP should generate medical records, which you can use to support your claim. You can also provide records if you sought a second opinion from someone else.
Records of financial losses and costs. If you’ve lost out financially because of your illness, for example, because you’ve had to pay to get to and from medical appointments that you wouldn’t have needed otherwise, then you could claim back the cost of this.
A symptoms diary. Keeping a record of how the negligence and your worsening condition have impacted you could support your claim.

For more information on what you could include in a claim if a GP failed to diagnose cancer because they breached their duty of care, speak with our advisors. They can offer you free legal advice.

What Could You Claim If A GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer?

If your GP failed to diagnose your cancer, you might be eligible to claim compensation. However, you might be wondering how much you could receive.

Your settlement for harm caused by medical negligence could be made up of two different heads. General damages compensate you for the loss of amenity that your injuries have caused, and special damages aim to return you to the financial position you were in before the accident took place.

In lieu of creating a medical negligence compensation calculator, we’ve included the table below. The compensation payments in this table were created using guidelines from the Judicial College. Legal professionals use these guidelines and other information to help them value compensation claims.

Injury	Damages For Injury	About The Harm Caused
Bowels - (a)	Up to £184,200	Complete loss of bowel function and complete loss of urinary function and control.
Infertility - Female - (a)	£114,900 to £170,280	Female infertility caused by disease due to injury or disease. There may also be scarring, pain, anxiety and depression.
Bladder Injury - (b)	Up to £140,660	Complete loss of bladder control and function(s).
Lung Disease - (b)	£100,670 to £135,920	Lung cancer in a young person that will likely worsen progressively to the point of premature death.
Severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)	£59,860 to £100,670	The injured person is unable to return to working or otherwise functioning at pre-trauma levels.
Complete Loss of Sight in One Eye - (e)	£49,270 to £54,830	Damages take account of scarring around the area as well as sympathetic ophthalmia.
Loss of One Kidney - (c)	£30,770 to £44,880	The loss of a kidney where there is no damage to the other kidney.
Spleen Injury - (a)	£20,800 to £26,290	The loss of the spleen where there is the risk of suffering internal infection due to impact on immune system.
Moderate Psychiatric Damage	£5,860 to £19,070	The injured person has a reduced ability to cope with aspects of life such as education or work. There is the chance for a marked improvement with treatment.
Mental anguish	£4,670	Fear of death or of the life expectancy being reduced

You could also receive special damages as part of your claim. This is the head of your claim that relates to financial losses. It could include:

Loss of earnings
Travel costs to and from medical appointments
The cost of any adaptations you need to make to your vehicle or home

For more information on what your claim could be worth if a GP failed to diagnose cancer, speak with an advisor today.

Check How To Claim If Your GP Failed To Diagnose Cancer

If your GP failed to diagnose cancer as the result of medical negligence, contact us today to see if you can claim compensation. If we believe you have a valid case, our panel of skilled medical negligence lawyers could start working on your claim.

A lawyer from our panel could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis, with a Conditional Fee Agreement in place. This means that you’re not expected to pay your lawyer up front or to make any payments as the claim progresses.

If you win your case, you’ll pay a legally-capped success fee to your lawyer. If you lose your claim, there’s nothing for you to pay your lawyer for their services.

To see if you have a valid claim for the misdiagnosis of cancer, please get in touch with us using the details below: