Missed Nasal Fracture Claims Guide - How Do I Claim Compensation For A Misdiagnosed Nasal Fracture?

By Daniel Boimler. Last Updated 4th November 2022. Having a broken nose can be painful, and in some cases, it can lead to the nose becoming misshapen. That’s why it is essential to have a potentially broken nose looked at so that it can be diagnosed and treated. A missed diagnosed nasal fracture could prevent you from getting the right treatment for your injury. It could be a breach of a doctors professional duty of care to fail to diagnose a patient’s injury when they would have had the skills to correctly diagnose the symptoms, and a breach of a professional duty of care could entitle the victim to make a personal injury claim if they go on to suffer preventable harm.

$Misdiagnosed nasal fracture compensation claims$

Misdiagnosed nasal fracture compensation claims

At Medical Negligence Assist, it is our job to help people who have been impacted by cases of medical negligence, such as a missed nasal bone fracture, to seek and win compensation. We do that by providing people with no win no fee personal injury solicitors to handle their claims and also by providing people with free advice. Some of the advice you will find in the article you are about to read, other advice you can get from a free consultation with one of our team members using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

Choose A Section

A Guide To Missed Nose Fracture Compensation Claims
What Are Misdiagnosed Fractured Or Broken Bones?
Causes Of Fractures Being Misdiagnosed
Causes Of Fractured Or Broken Noses
Fractured Nose Symptoms
How Are Fractures Of The Nose Diagnosed Or Treated?
When Could You Claim for A Missed Nasal Fracture?
Claims For Nasal Fractures Missed By Your GP
Claims For Nose Fractures Missed By Your Hospital
What Are My Rights When Being Treated By The NHS?
How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Misdiagnosed Fracture?
Compensation Calculator For Missed Nose Fractures
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Missed Nose Fractures
Talk To Us To Start A Claim
Supporting Resource

A Guide To Missed Nose Fracture Compensation Claims

Having a broken nose is not the most serious medical situation which you could potentially find yourself in compared to other types of broken bones. However, broken noses can lead to disfigurement and damage your ability to smell. You are entitled to receive an accurate diagnosis in order to receive the correct treatment. If misdiagnosis occurs because doctors failed in their responsibilities, it could justify making a personal injury claim if the patient goes on to suffer preventable harm. This guide will hopefully answer questions you may have about how medical negligence can occur, when it can justify making a claim and what kind of compensation you can claim.

We will also explain some of the benefits of claiming with our panel of solicitors; throughout this guide, you can also find useful resources and links. This is a starter guide; the next step will be for you to call our advice team for more information or to inquire about beginning a claim. You may find it useful to read through our general guide to misdiagnosis claims.

What Are Misdiagnosed Fractured Or Broken Bones?

Broken or fractured bones give away signs that can be spotted even without extreme symptoms such as protruding out of the skin. However, if they are to be treated appropriately, they must be diagnosed with greater precision than simply confirming that it is there. It is the responsibility of doctors, when dealing with a patient with a broken bone, to confirm where the fracture is, how far it extends and how severe the damage is. This is crucial to determine what treatment is appropriate for addressing the issue.

Misdiagnosis is when this is not accomplished, either because the broken bone is not spotted, or because the exact nature of the fracture is not accurately determined. This guide is about what you can do when these misdiagnoses occur as a result of medical negligence.

Causes Of Fractures Being Misdiagnosed

Some bone fractures can be easily spotted; others may require closer examination and/or scans to confirm their presence. In many cases, fractures that have already been spotted will be referred on to X-rays or other scans in order for doctors to know exactly what kind of fracture they are dealing with. It is expected that even in the case of complex or hard to spot fractures that doctors and hospital staff should be able to correctly diagnose a fracture so that it can be properly treated. Fractures can be misdiagnosed as a result of a number of different types of failures.

Failures by the doctor performing the initial examination on the patient
Failures by doctors interpreting X-rays and scans
Failures by doctors performing examination and triage in A&E
Failures by hospital staff performing admin duties.

It is expected of doctors and medical workers that they should be able to correctly diagnose a bone fracture, even if they are not initially able to determine the precise extent and nature of the fracture in the first examination. If a fracture is missed or misdiagnosed, especially a fairly routine one such as a nasal fracture, then it is quite possible that medical negligence or clinical malpractice has taken place.

Causes Of Fractured Or Broken Noses

Bones can get broken when subjected to sufficient force, often in the form of sudden impacts. The bones in and around the nose can be subjected to these kinds of force in a number of scenarios.

Slipping or tripping and falling over and landing on your face.
Being in a road traffic accident.
Suffering a sports injury, especially in contact sports like rugby or combat sports such as boxing.
As a result of a physical assault, usually by being punched in the face.

Fractured Nose Symptoms

There are a number of physical signs which you could experience after suffering a blow to the face, which could be symptoms of a nasal fracture. If you experience them, visit a doctor as soon as possible.

Bruising and swelling around the nose and the eyes.
Bleeding from the nose
Clear fluid coming from the nose
Difficulty breathing through the nose
Inability to smell
Changed shape of the nose
Pain in and around the nose.

You may find it useful to get more information from the NHS website here.

How Are Fractures Of The Nose Diagnosed Or Treated?

If you are conscious and lucid when you are first examined, such as if you are seen by a GP or a doctor in a walk-in centre then the doctor will examine you and ask you questions about your symptoms to look out for any of the signs listed in the section above, if you are unconscious or too disoriented to provide accurate answers, then the doctor will stick to a physical examination.

The doctor may be able to confirm that you have a fracture in this initial examination, or they may still be unsure. In either case, they may well refer you to receive an X-ray to scan and produce an image of the bone. (CT scans and MRI scans are also optional but may well not be considered necessary or appropriate for a fractured nose). This will confirm whether or not you have a fracture and to what extent.

The treatment for a broken nose depends on the severity of the individual case. The main goal of treating a broken nose is to align the bones in the nose back into their proper place. In some cases, this can be done by the doctor on the spot by merely pushing your nose back into position. In other, more severe cases, surgery may be needed to re-align the bones.

If you experience apparent fluid leaking from your nostrils, it could be cerebral-spinal fluid. This is an urgent medical situation, and you will be sent to the hospital for further treatment.

In any case, you will likely be prescribed or advised to purchase anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the swelling and ease the bones recovery. The prognosis for a broken nose is usually good; however, in some cases, mainly when it is untreated, it can lead to scarring and deformity of the nose.

When Could You Claim for A Missed Nasal Fracture?

A medical negligence compensation claim can be made when you have suffered preventable harm as a result of a misdiagnosis caused by medical negligence. This means that to make a valid and successful claim; two things need to be proven.

Firstly, you have suffered harm beyond that which would be expected from a properly diagnosed and treated broken nose and which should have been avoided had the injury been diagnosed properly.

Secondly, it has to be proven that the misdiagnosis of the broken nose was as a result of an error which constituted negligence on the part of doctors or hospital staff. Mistakes due to a lack of training or human error or other mistakes that do not constitute malice can still be classed as medical negligence.

You cannot make a valid claim if you suffered a misdiagnosis but managed to avoid subsequent complications. You also would not be entitled to make a claim if your broken nose was misdiagnosed due to your own actions, for example, if you did not fully cooperate with the examination.

Claims For Nasal Fractures Missed By Your GP

You may expect your GP to diagnose your injury, and if necessary, refer you to a specialist or to receive an X-ray if they are unsure or if they wish to have a more specific diagnosis.

If a GP fails to diagnose a fractured nose, through failing to spot symptoms, or fails to prescribe an X-ray to confirm the presence or the extent of the fracture, then they could be considered to have failed in their duty of care to their patient. Failure to diagnose an injury can delay or prevent proper treatment and subsequently lead to health complications and delays to the patients’ recovery. This kind of failure could be considered medical negligence and grounds for making a medical negligence compensation claim. You might find it useful to read more information in our general guide to making compensation claims for GP negligence here.

Claims For Nose Fractures Missed By Your Hospital

Medical negligence claims can also be made in the event that the misdiagnosis of your injury occurs in a hospital. There are a number of ways this potentially could happen. There may be circumstances in which accidents could happen leading to you being taken to A&E, this is where injuries can be diagnosed, and immediate treatment began. If an injury is overlooked here, then it could go untreated, leading to preventable complications and pain.

X-rays performed on the injured body part are also conducted in hospitals. Performing the X-ray correctly and passing on the results of the X-ray properly are key to getting a clear picture of whereabout exactly the fracture has occurred and how far it extends. An X-ray which is poorly performed or X-ray results not being passed on through the proper channels can also cause misdiagnosis and potentially justify starting a compensation claim. You might find it useful to read more information in our general guide to making hospital negligence claims here.

What Are My Rights When Being Treated By The NHS?

As a patient in the NHS, you are legally entitled to receive quality care without coming to any harm as a result of medical negligence. What that means is that all doctors and medical professionals in the NHS are expected not to make mistakes through human error or other factors that result in patients suffering preventable harm, this applies to all staff regardless of other factors such as inexperience or stress levels. You are entitled to file a complaint against the NHS, which you can read more about here if you are unsatisfied with the treatment you have received. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that a misdiagnosis has caused you to suffer preventable health problems, then you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For A Misdiagnosed Fracture?

You have 3 years from the date you are aware that you suffered avoidable harm due to the misdiagnosis. So if you have only recently experienced the misdiagnosis, the personal injury claims time limit gives you an ample window of opportunity to read up on personal injury claims, seek advice and consider your options before starting a claim. However, once this three-year time limit has expired, it will be highly unlikely that you will be eligible to start a claim.

The best time to contact a solicitor or a legal advisor is right now, take this opportunity to get in touch with us to discuss your situation and your options for making a medical negligence claim.

Compensation Calculator For Missed Nose Fractures

There is no one set amount of compensation that is awarded to successful claimants, compensation is calculated and tailored to reflect the losses and the degree of health issues caused by medical negligence. This means that at this stage, without knowing your exact situation and without consulting a legal advisor or solicitor, it is not possible to say what level of compensation your claim may award you. However, it is possible to inform you of how your compensation is calculated.

In this table, you can see how much compensation can be awarded for certain types of injuries which can be linked to suffering a broken nose. It shows how the amount of compensation can be either greater or smaller, depending on the severity of the injury.

Injury	Notes	Compensation.
Le Fort Fractures of Frontal Facial Bones	Severe fractures of facial bones.	£23,810 to £36,740
Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones	Causing permanent deformity	£14,900 to £23,950
Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex (i)	Permanent damage to airways, smell, tear ducts and deformity.	£10,640 to £23,130
Fractures Of The Nose - Nasal Complex	Nose fractures with a full recovery, but only after surgery	£3,950 to £5,100
Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex (iii)	Fractures which can be dealt with by manipulating the nose	£2,520 to £3,150
Fractures of Nose or Nasal Complex	Simple fracture with full recovery	£1,710 to £2,520
Fractures of Cheekbones (i)	Serious fractures which leave some degree of cheek paralysis or deformity even after surgery	£10,200 to £15,780
Fractures of Cheekbones (ii)	Fractures requiring some surgery but which leave no cosmetic or paralyzing effects	£4,350 to £6,460
Fractures of Cheekbones (iii)	Simple fractures where there is a full recovery without surgery	£2,320 to £2,990
Fractures of Jaws	Very serious jaw fracture with permanent effects.	£30,490 to £45,540

Broken Noses – Other Settlement Examples

A fracture of the nose could affect your life in a number of ways, including financially. As part of your settlement, you could have certain costs and losses reimbursed if they have been caused by your injury. This portion of your compensation is known as a special damages payment.

Here are a few examples of potential special damages:

Loss of earnings – If your injury affects your ability to work, then you could lose out on income. Make sure you have evidence of how much you could have earned in the form of payslips etc.
Medical expenses – For instance, you may need to pay for prescription painkillers while you recover.
Personal property – Certain items may need repairing or replacing if they sustained damage in the same incident that caused your nose fracture.

Receipts and other evidence will be needed to support a special damages claim.

Get in touch to find out if you could also claim in instance of criminal injuries, such as being punched in the nose. Injuries sustained in this way require a different process than in the field of traditional personal injury law.

No Win No Fee Compensation Claims For Missed Nose Fractures

We recommend working with the personal injury solicitors that we provide for a number of reasons, one of the most important of which is the fact that they can work with you on the basis of a No Win No Fee agreement when you make a claim with them. To put it in simple terms a No Win No Fee agreement is a contract which you and your solicitor will sign before beginning a claim, this agreement will stipulate that your solicitor is only entitled to payment if the case is successful and you receive a payout of compensation. It will also stipulate that if your claim is successful, your medical negligence lawyer will be paid using a certain pre-arranged amount of your compensation payout.

A No Win No Fee agreement may result in you taking home less than the entire amount of compensation awarded, but by the same token, it also enables you to make a claim without taking a financial risk as you will not be paying any money upfront before the case has begun. For more information about how a no win no fee claim works, call our team on the contact details below.

Talk To Us To Start A Claim

To take the next step towards making a personal injury claim, whether by arranging to hire a solicitor or to get more advice and information about your rights to claim compensation, call our team on 0800 652 3087. Or alternatively, put your details into this form to arrange a call back from our team.

Supporting Resources

Medical Negligence Compensation Claims Time Limit

Further Information On Nasal Fractures

Other Misdiagnosis Claim Guides

Written by Jack.

Edited by LisM.

Misdiagnosed Nasal Fracture No Win No Fee Compensation Claims

Missed Nasal Fracture Claims Guide – How Do I Claim Compensation For A Misdiagnosed Nasal Fracture?