How To Sue The NHS For Misdiagnosis
By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 3rd August 2023. In this guide, we will explain how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis. If you can prove that you’ve been mistreated at a hospital or negatively impacted by a misdiagnosis that was caused by negligence, you may be able to claim compensation.
When you seek medical attention, you’re entitled to a minimum standard of care from the healthcare provider treating you. If they fail to provide this, it could cause your condition to worsen. We will look at what the impact of a misdiagnosis can be and the circumstances that could entitle you to claim.
Our advisors offer free legal advice so, if you have any questions or queries, such as wanting to know if you’re eligible to claim for an internal organ injury misdiagnosis, please get in touch. They’re available 24/7 and can put you through to a solicitor in just a few minutes. Contact us today using the details below.
- Call us using 0800 073 8804.
- Write to us describing your injury details using info@legalexpert.co.uk
- Use our online contact form on our website.
- Use the live chat window that you can see on your screen.
Furthermore, please read on to learn more about claiming for medical misdiagnosis.
Advice On How To Sue The NHS For A Misdiagnosis
Select A Section
- Can I Sue The NHS For A Misdiagnosis?
- What Is Medical Misdiagnosis?
- What Are The Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Medical Conditions?
- Types Of Diagnostic Error
- Causes Of Misdiagnosis In Healthcare
- How To Sue The NHS For Misdiagnosis And Its Effects
- What Duty Of Care Does The NHS Owe Patients?
- How Do I Prove An NHS Misdiagnosis Compensation Claim?
- Examples Of NHS Misdiagnosis Payouts
- What Else Can NHS Misdiagnosis Compensation Payouts Include?
- How To Sue The NHS For Misdiagnosis With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Start Your Misdiagnosis Claim
- Resources When Claiming Against The NHS
- FAQs On How To Sue The NHS For Misdiagnosis
Can I Sue The NHS For A Misdiagnosis?
You may be wondering whether you could sue the NHS for misdiagnosis. To be eligible to make a medical negligence claim, you will need evidence that proves your case meets the required criteria. This means that you need to prove that you were owed a duty of care by a medical professional and that when this was breached, you suffered unnecessary harm.
All medical professionals, whether they work as part of the public or private healthcare sector, owe their patients a duty of care. Per their duty of care, they must ensure that you receive the correct standard of care when they are treating you as their patient. If they breach this duty, you could suffer unnecessary harm and may be able to make a medical negligence claim.
However, there may be certain instances where you receive a misdiagnosis, but a medical professional did not breach their duty of care. In this instance, you might not be eligible to make a medical negligence claim.
If you have any questions about claiming for an NHS misdiagnosis for compensation, get in touch with one of our advisors.
How Long Do I Have To Claim NHS Misdiagnosis Compensation
In most standard cases, the claims time limit is three years from the incident date or three years from the date you became aware that your symptoms were caused by negligence. The latter timeframe is for when you’ve suffered from a condition that has developed over time that you’ve only just become aware of, such as lung disease.
Whether you’ve suffered negligence from an NHS trust, a GP, or a hospital, your claim will not be successful if you’ve taken over three years to start your claim. This is outlined in The Limitation Act 1980. There are, however, two exceptions to this:
- If you’re a child and you want to claim for NHS negligence, you have three years from the date of your eighteenth birthday to claim compensation.
- If you don’t have the mental capacity to claim, there is no time frame for claiming.
In both instances, you can also select a guardian or a loved one to be a litigation friend, meaning that they claim on your behalf, while you’re unable to do so yourself. To learn more about this, please get in touch. Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice and can inform you over the phone in just a matter of minutes if you’re able to claim compensation.
What Is Medical Misdiagnosis?
A medical misdiagnosis is where you receive a diagnosis that does not accurately reflect the condition you’re actually suffering from. For example, you may be wondering how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis if your condition has been mistakenly diagnosed as something else, meaning that the treatment you need for your actual condition has been delayed.
All doctors owe their patients a duty of care. This duty of care involves performing their roles to the degree expected of them within the medical profession. You may be able to receive compensation if you can prove that the level of care they provided fell below these standards.
However, it’s important to note that just because you are misdiagnosed by an NHS healthcare provider doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to make a successful claim. This is because complications can arise even when the appropriate level of care is being administered.
As part of a misdiagnosis claim, peers of the medical professional usually review the steps taken in your treatment to determine if they were of an acceptable standard or not. This is referred to as the Bolam Test. If the panel of peers find that the doctor acted outside their duty of care, this could indicate negligence.
What Are The Most Commonly Misdiagnosed Medical Conditions?
Injuries and conditions that could be misdiagnosed include:
- Fractures
- Tendon injuries
- Cancer
- Hip injuries
- Scaphoid injuries
If you could like to know more about claiming compensation for an NHS misdiagnosis, speak to a member of our team today. You can also read on for more information on the kinds of diagnostic errors that could occur.
Types Of Diagnostic Error
You wondering how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis for a number of different reasons. You might have been misdiagnosed in a hospital by a doctor or due to an error by an NHS trust employee, for example.
Types of potential diagnostic errors include:
- Cancer misdiagnosis resulting from the correct medical test not being ordered.
- Internal bleeding misdiagnosis caused by not fully listening to the patient’s concerns about the injury.
- Meningitis misdiagnosis due to failing to conduct a lumbar puncture.
- A head injuries misdiagnosis caused by not performing the correct tests to analyse the injury correctly.
- You’re told you have a condition that you don’t have and this leads you to undergo unnecessary surgery.
- The misreading of a scan can cause broken or fractured bone misdiagnosis.
- An initial misdiagnosis can cause a delayed treatment of injuries. This could cause your condition to worsen to a point where it cannot be treated.
To know more about whether you can claim compensation, please get in touch with our advisors. They’re available 24/7, offer free legal advice and can tell you in minutes if you’re able to claim. Contact them using the details above.
Causes Of Misdiagnosis In Healthcare
Many factors can cause medical misdiagnosis. For example:
- Misinterpreting a scan or test. For instance, a broken or fractured bone misdiagnosis can be caused by a fracture being missed on an X-ray. If it’s a hairline fracture, these can be difficult to spot.
- Insufficient supervision. Medical professionals may make a mistake because their superiors aren’t available to guide them when diagnosing you. This could particularly be the case with junior doctors and nurses.
- GP negligence. A GP may not pay full attention to you when you’re explaining your condition, which could lead to a misdiagnosis.
- A lack of expertise. Simply put, the doctor or medical professional may not have the training or experience required to diagnose you correctly.
- Incorrect tests. The wrong tests may be ordered, leading to the wrong diagnosis.
- Inaction on behalf of medical professionals. They may not have taken a sufficient medical history to be able to diagnose you correctly.
As we have already mentioned, just because your condition was misdiagnosed does not mean that you are the victim of medical negligence. Some of these causes of misdiagnosis are in direct contrast with the duties of a doctor as outlined by the General Medical Council (GMC), like not listening to the patient’s concerns.
However, some of these might occur even if the right level of care is administered. For instance, your doctor might order the wrong test because you were not exhibiting symptoms typical of your condition.
If you would like to know more about whether you could claim for the harm caused by negligent misdiagnosis, speak to us today.
What Duty Of Care Does The NHS Owe Patients?
As previously mentioned, medical professionals in the NHS have a duty of care to provide the expected standard of care required within their profession. Therefore, making a successful claim revolves around proving that their actions went below this required standard. The Bolam Test, conducted by peers, will assess the actions of the medical professional to help determine this.
To be a doctor, you need to register with the General Medical Council. They provide your license so that you can practice medicine. Furthermore, they state that, as a doctor, you need to follow a code of conduct that includes showing:
- Selflessness
- Integrity
- Accountability
- Objectivity
- Openness
- Honesty
- Leadership
Therefore, the actions of the doctor in question will partly be judged in relation to this code of conduct.
An important part of how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis is showing direct causation between the doctor’s actions and the exasperation or worsening of your health. You need to directly link their negligence to your condition. So, for instance, if a doctor has provided you with the wrong medication because you were diagnosed with a condition you did not have, you could use medical assessments and tests to show how your condition drastically worsened after the medication was given to you.
NHS Resolution is the operating name of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA). They are the part of the NHS that deals with medical negligence claims, specialising in resolving disputes fairly.
How Do I Prove An NHS Misdiagnosis Compensation Claim?
Both personal injury claims and medical negligence claims revolve around proving third party negligence. Therefore, an integral part regarding how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis revolves around proving the three key principles below:
- Firstly, you need to prove that the third party has a duty of care towards you. In this case, this would be the medical professional or doctor who may be liable for your injuries.
- You then need to show that their actions breached this duty of care.
- Finally, you need to show how this breach led to an injury or your condition worsening.
Medical professionals have a duty of care to patients, as clarified in legislation such as The National Health Service (Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice) Regulations 2019. If you’re able to prove all three of these things, you may be able to receive compensation.
Evidence that could help you prove this includes:
- Medical reports
- An independent professional medical opinion. This is a required part of the claims process.
- Scans, such as X-rays, etc.
To learn more about what evidence you may need, please get in touch with us. Our advisors have years of experience, so they’ll be able to answer any questions you have about how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis. Contact them today 24/7 using the details above.
Examples Of NHS Misdiagnosis Payouts
When making a medical negligence claim, there are two potential heads of claim. General damages relate to the physical and psychological damage caused by the injury, as well as the general decline in your quality of life.
The Judicial College analyse previous general damage payouts concerning different types of injuries. By doing this, they’ve created reliable compensation brackets based on the extent and severity of the injury caused. We use this information to provide you with as reliable a compensation estimate as possible, both in our medical negligence claims calculator and over the phone with you.
Below is a list of injuries and their relevant compensation brackets. The Judicial College provides these figures.
| Type of Injury | Amount of Compensation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total Deafness | £90,750 to £109,650 | With this injury, the lower end of the bracket would be for injuries where the injury doesn’t cause speech deficit or tinnitus. |
| Reproductive System: Male | £43,010 to £88,750 |
This injury will lead to impotence which will likely be permanent. |
| Back – Severe (ii) | £74,160 to £88,430 | Cases in this bracket lead to special fractures causing orthopaedic injury to the back. |
| Bladder | £63,980 to £79,930 |
Injuries in this bracket lead to serious impairment to control causing some incontinence and pain. |
| Asthma (a) | £43,060 to £65,740 | This injury leads to permanent and severely disabling asthma, causing prolonged and regular coughing and sleep disturbance. |
| Chest (c) | £31,310 to £54,830 | This injury causes damage to chest and lung(s) leading to some form of continuous disability. |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally – Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 | Injuries in this bracket would lead to significant problems to things like the injured person’s ability to cope with life and their ability to work, but the prognosis will be more optimistic than a more serious psychiatric injury. |
| Kidney | £30,770 to £44,880 |
Loss of one kidney but with no damage caused to the other one. |
| Shoulder – Moderate | £7,890 to £12,770 | Frozen shoulder causing movement limitation and discomfort lasting for around two years. |
| Brain – Minor | £2,210 to £12,770 | This injury would be a minor brain or head injury where, if there is brain damage, it would be minimal. |
You will usually be invited to a medical assessment as part of your compensation claim. This is where an independent medical expert will assess the impact that your misdiagnosis has had on you and compile a report with their findings. This report will be used to value your claim for compensation.
What Else Can NHS Misdiagnosis Compensation Payouts Include?
Special damages relate to the financial losses you’ve suffered as a result of your injury or worsening condition. Depending on the extent of the injury and to what degree it has affected you, the type of losses you can claim due to NHS misdiagnosis include:
- Loss of earnings
- Loss of future earnings
- Travel costs
- Prescriptions and medication
- Care costs, such as the cost of needing a professional nurse
However, one important thing to bear in mind is that if you don’t receive general damages, you won’t receive any special damages compensation either. This is because, if you don’t, the court believes that the medical professionals were not liable for the worsening of your condition. Therefore, you wouldn’t receive any compensation for the costs associated with your condition.
You will also need evidence to prove the value of special damages you want to claim. This would involve financial documentation, such as receipts, invoices and bank statements.
How To Sue The NHS For Misdiagnosis With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
You may have heard the phrase No Win No Fee before, but be unsure what it entails. A No Win No Fee agreement can sometimes be referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). It sets out the conditions that need to be met before you pay your solicitor.
The advantages of this kind of agreement include:
- Not paying legal fees, either upfront or during the entire claims proceedings.
- You also won’t have to pay legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful.
- Instead, they will take a small, legally capped amount of your compensation once your claim has been successful to cover the cost of legal fees.
If you would like to know more about the advantages offered by a Conditional Fee Agreement, speak to our team today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor to work on your claim.
Start Your Misdiagnosis Claim
Our advisors are available 24/7 and offer free legal advice so, if you have any questions about how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis, please get in touch! They can assess whether you’ll be able to claim and can even provide you with a reliable compensation estimate in just one phone call. They can also put you through to a medical negligence lawyer who can work your case on a No Win No Fee basis.
- Call us using 0800 073 8804.
- Write to us describing your injury details using info@legalexpert.co.uk
- Use our online contact form on our website.
- Use the live chat window that you can see on your screen.
Resources When Claiming Against The NHS
To know more about medical negligence claims, please use the links below.
- If you’ve broken a bone and want medical guidance, please refer to the NHS website.
- Never events are medical incidents that should never occur if all the proper procedures are followed. To learn more about them, visit this webpage.
- Have you suffered from dental trauma? If so, and you’d like more information, read this NHS guidance.
- If you would like to claim for harm caused by GP negligence, this guide could help.
- To learn more about the time limits for suing the NHS, visit this page.
- Want to know more about the different types of medical negligence claims? If so, visit our webpage.
Other Claims We Could Help You With
- Compensation For A Wrongful Death Claim
- Birth Injury Claims
- Wrong-site Surgery Compensation Claims
- Armed Forces Medical Negligence Claims
- Midwife Diagnosis Claims
For more advice on how to sue the NHS for misdiagnosis, compensation payouts, and making a claim, please get in touch.
