Understanding Medical Misdiagnosis: A Guide

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Medical Misdiagnosis is a substantial part of NHS claims and complaints. However, it is also often misunderstood. In this short guide below, we offer some quick insights to helping with your understanding of medical misdiagnosis.

For example, you can’t file a complaint if you are simply unhappy with your diagnosis. In addition, you can’t just file a complaint if you don’t believe the diagnosis is correct. This guide will explain the basics of misdiagnosis claims. Moreover, it will enable you to understand whether you are eligible to make a claim.

What is Medical Misdiagnosis?

Medical Misdiagnosis is a pervasive issue, with 1 in 6 patients being misdiagnosed, and occurs when a diagnosis is made too late by a doctor or GP due to negligence by the NHS. It can happen:

• if a doctor does not diagnose a medical condition;
• when the doctor makes a medical diagnosis late, or;
• if the doctor makes the wrong diagnosis.

The doctor’s misdiagnosis must then have an adverse effect on the patient, such as a worsening health condition. It can have a damaging impact on the patient’s ability to:

• react to treatment;
• the length of their treatment and;
• can also incur a large amount of financial loss onto the patient.

How does Medical Misdiagnosis Occur?

By understanding medical misdiagnosis and clinical negligence, you need to know where (and how) it happens.

Misdiagnosis commonly occurs when a doctor has been negligent to the needs of their patient. It also occurs when a doctor

• fails to investigate your symptoms thoroughly or;
• does not perform the correct tests necessary to diagnose you properly.

Misdiagnosis can also happen if:

• an ignored junior member of staff examines you, or;
• if a doctor doesn’t specialist in a particular area.

When Should You Make a Claim?

You should consider medical misdiagnosis claims when your condition has worsened in relation to the doctor’s late diagnosis and is more substantial than if your condition had been diagnosed in time. To do this, you should visit a solicitor who can advise you as follows.

• If the case is strong enough;
• Moreover, if the correct diagnosis is within grasp;
• The best process to take, if it is strong enough, and;
• Sufficient evidence that you will need to support your case.

You can also make a claim on behalf of a relative if their condition worsens. Also, if they die from a doctor’s misdiagnosis of their condition, thus causing consequential delay to treatment. You are able to make a claim up to three years after the misdiagnosis during your adult life.

However, you can make a claim as to a child’s welfare any time until their eighteenth birthday.

How Much Compensation Can You Claim?

There is no standard amount of medical misdiagnosis compensation that you could receive from the NHS in relation to your claim. However, the amount of compensation you receive relies on a number of factors. These include:

• your illness;
• the extent of your condition;
• changes to your life expectancy;
• the length of time your recovery and treatment will now be, and;
• the time you will now have to have treatment for due to the misdiagnosis.

Medical Misdiagnosis is one of the most important factors when it comes to claims made against doctors and the NHS. However, you should ensure you have the correct knowledge of the legal system. Plus, secure grounds for compensation before you make a claim.

No Win No Fee

At TMNE, we start by offering free advice and proceed to assess all claims on a No Win No Fee basis. As a result of that, we can determine how successful a claim is likely to be. Better still, this legal service is 100% free for all clients to use.

For brain injuries or other malpractice from medical professionals, don’t just fund it yourself. Qualify it with capable misdiagnosis solicitors, and let them ensure compensation claims for the negligent health care you endure.

Are you eligible to make misdiagnosis cases?

Simply put: have you suffered as a result of medical negligence in the last three years? If your personal injury is the result of even commonly misdiagnosed illnesses or delayed diagnosis, then the answer is Yes. But make sure you gather as much information as you can before the three-year time limit runs out.

For health problems you suffer, your medical negligence claim requires that you act quickly. When things are fresh in your mind, you’re consequently in a better position to succeed: especially with a specialist solicitor that knows the duty of care does fail you.

How can we help with misdiagnosis cases?

The team of solicitors on offer from The Medical Negligence Experts has extensive experience in representing clients seeking compensation for injury caused by clinical negligence. 

Above all, to negotiate and fight on your behalf for the best possible financial outcome. Moreover, we achieve this because we always build robust medical negligence cases that win.

We understand the devastating impact implant negligence can have on our client’s lives. Furthermore, we’ll do all we can to help you minimise the ill-effects of your injury and live to your full potential. We support our clients by:

• Investigating their situation thoroughly to ascertain whether their claim has a good chance of success.
• Remember: above all, the onus is on the claimant to prove negligent care causes their injury, and it can be painful if it fails.
• Collecting and organising evidence to present a solid case to the responsible care provider that supports your claim for compensation, which can also include putting you in contact with the right independent medical experts for their assessment.
• Negotiating an acceptable amount of compensation based on your circumstances, and what has claimants with similar injuries to yours have received in the past.
• Representing you and supporting you should your claim go to court either due to the responsible party disagreeing with the claim, or refusing to pay fair compensation.

Humanity from medical misdiagnosis

Remember: we work with the UK’s top lawyers, but we’re also people with families of our own. Above all, through understanding medical misdiagnosis claims, We recognise that it’s stressful for those unfamiliar with the process.

• It’s rife with its own set of unique complications;
• It’s not a totally natural inclination to blame medical professionals;
• Moreover, it can be drawn out and frustratingly long.

The lawyers we work with bring humanity to the table with all the circumstances of a misdiagnosis claim. That’s why we’ll keep you informed with each development in the case. We also keep it real with the dialogue: excessive legal or medical jargon isn’t part of it. You’ll find out what’s happening, and what it means to your case.