How might NHS misdiagnosis occur?
Sadly, being diagnosed with the wrong condition can happen sometimes, perhaps when visiting your GP or attending hospital or seeing another health professional. When you present with symptoms, they should be using their skill, experience and whatever appropriate tests are at their disposal to ensure that your medical issue is accurately diagnosed so that you can be treated as quickly as possible. It might be possible that they misread test results, don’t investigate the symptoms properly or fail to request the right tests in the first place. There are many ways in which mistakes can happen that result in someone being misdiagnosed by NHS staff.
If you are misdiagnosed with another condition because the NHS health professional has failed in their duty of care to you, the treatment that you are given will not be effective for whatever condition you do have, and may even cause you harm in itself. This would also mean that your actual condition is not being treated effectively in the meantime, which could allow your medical issue to progress, worsen and some cases, can even cause fatality.
How to claim compensation for NHS misdiagnosis
If you believe that you were misdiagnosed by the NHS due to negligence and wish to make a claim, the first step to take is to contact an experienced clinical negligence solicitor to see if you are eligible.
Suing the NHS for misdiagnosis is not something that anyone takes lightly, but if you or a loved one have been harmed because of negligence then the consequences can be life-changing for the whole family, and any NHS misdiagnosis compensation awarded can be used to help you to find a way to move forwards and take some of the financial strain off of what has happened. Taking legal action can also help ensure that the NHS trust takes steps so that something similar doesn’t happen again to anyone else.
Suing the NHS for delayed diagnosis, where your condition was eventually correctly diagnosed but it happened later than it should and you suffered as a result, will follow a similar process, with your solicitor being able to advise on what to expect next at every stage.
Experienced solicitors, who have dealt with other NHS misdiagnosis complaints in the past, will be able to look at the evidence, find out exactly what happened and can then tell you whether you have a strong claim. They can also talk you through the next steps if you wish to proceed.
How much compensation will I get for an NHS misdiagnosis?
If your claim is successful, you will be awarded an amount of compensation that is believed to fit the specific circumstances of your case. An NHS misdiagnosis claim will take into account factors like the severity of the harm caused by the misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis and the impact on the patient’s life, the potential cost of any future care needs, financial losses caused by the misdiagnosis and whether things like adaptations to your home are needed.
For example, an NHS cancer misdiagnosis pay out for one person might be different to the amount of compensation that a different patient could receive, as every claim is unique and consequences of a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis can vary from person to person. An NHS misdiagnosis for cancer could potentially have fatal implications if the condition progresses significantly before a correct diagnosis is given.
If you’re unsure whether you have a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis NHS claim, or you simply want to find out more about this type of claim and compensation, you can contact our expert clinical negligence solicitors by calling 0161 696 6165. We can offer you specialist advice that is tailored to your specific circumstances and help you to get the justice you deserve for what has happened to you or your loved one.