How To Make A Complaint About Misdiagnosis And Claim For Medical Negligence

In this guide, we will discuss how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis. If you have been given the wrong diagnosis due to receiving poor care in a medical setting, you have the right to make a complaint about the service you were provided. As you move through this guide, you can find information on the different bodies you could potentially raise your concerns to, and how we can help you with the process of doing so. 

how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis

Furthermore, we will discuss when a medical negligence compensation claim could be made. Medical professionals owe a duty of care to provide a service of reasonable skill and care. If they fail to do so, and this leads to you being misdiagnosed and suffering avoidable or unnecessary harm, medical negligence may have occurred. In some instances, you may have valid grounds to seek compensation, provided you meet the eligibility criteria. We will provide further details on these later in our guide.

This guide will also give examples of how misdiagnosis could occur, and the impact it could have. It will also explore the medical negligence settlement that could be awarded to address the way you have been impacted by the misdiagnosis, should your claim succeed.

Finally, our guide looks at the different benefits of working with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, and the services they could offer to assist you in seeking a medical negligence payout.

For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our team of advisors. They can offer free advice regarding your complaint, as well as help you understand whether you’re eligible to make a medical negligence claim. To reach them, you can:

Jump To A Section

  1. How To Make A Complaint About Misdiagnosis
  2. Can You Take Legal Action Against A Medical Practitioner?
  3. What Harm Could Misdiagnosis Of An Injury Or Illness Cause?
  4. What Compensation Could You Claim For Medical Misdiagnosis?
  5. What Is A No Win No Fee Misdiagnosis Claim?
  6. Further Guidance On How To Make A Complaint About Misdiagnosis

How To Make A Complaint About Misdiagnosis

You may wonder how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis. The way in which you make your complaint, and who you direct it to, can differ depending on several factors including where you received care.

Initially, you may want to take your medical negligence complaint directly to the care provider, which may be a hospital, private clinic, or GP surgery. Otherwise, there are numerous bodies you can share your concerns with. For example:

  • General Medical Council (GMC) – The independent regulator of UK doctors who can investigate your complaint.
  • Care Quality Commission (CQC) – The independent regulator of health and social care services in England. Whilst they don’t have the power to raise or resolve concerns on your behalf, you should still raise your concerns to them as it can help the CQC to prevent poor care in the future.
  • NHS Resolution – This body helps resolves concerns and disputes with the NHS fairly.
  • Parliamentary Ombudsman and Health Service – These make the final decisions on complaints that haven’t been resolved by NHS England, and other UK government departments and public organisations.

How We Could Help You Make A Complaint To A Healthcare Provider

Our advisors can assist you with making your complaint about misdiagnosis, including helping you understand where your complaint needs to be directed and the procedure you might need to follow.

Additionally, they can assess whether you could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim, and provide free advice on the process involved in doing so. 

To learn more, please get in touch with an advisor on the number above.

Can You Take Legal Action Against A Medical Practitioner?

If these eligibility criteria can be satisfied, you could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim:

  • A medical professional owed you a duty of care. Patients are owed a duty of care by medical professionals, who must ensure their care meets the correct standard.
  • This duty was breached due to a medical professional providing substandard care.
  • You experienced avoidable harm as a result of the breach. 

Check What Limitation Period Affects Your Claim

As well as meeting the criteria listed above, a medical negligence claim must also begin within the time limit laid out in The Limitation Act 1980. This is generally three years from the date of the medical negligence.

Alternatively, you could have three years to start legal proceedings from the date you realised medical negligence had happened i.e. the date of knowledge.

There are certain exceptions that can be made to the general three-year time limit. To learn more about these, please get in touch with an advisor on the number above.

What Harm Could Misdiagnosis Of An Injury Or Illness Cause?

There are several ways in which a medical misdiagnosis could occur. For example:

  • Your doctor fails to correctly listen to all of your symptoms and misdiagnoses you with a different condition as a result. This could mean you receive the wrong treatment, which mean your original condition worsens and you experience complications from receiving the incorrect treatment, such as the wrong medication.
  • You go to the hospital due to pain in your ankle. However, the X-ray you are sent for is carried out incorrectly. As a result, your ankle fracture is missed and you are misdiagnosed with a sprain. This leads to complications such as ongoing issues with mobility and deformity, due to receiving delayed treatment for your fracture.
  • A misdiagnosis of cancer occurs when you display clear signs of cancer but are not referred for further tests. Instead, you are diagnosed with a different condition. The cancer spreads to other organs as a result.

As the examples show, the effects of misdiagnosis are varied. Your condition could worsen or spread, or you could experience complications due to receiving treatment for a different condition. 

However, it’s important to be aware that not all incidents of misdiagnosis will form the basis of a valid claim. To be eligible to seek compensation, you must be able to prove that medical negligence occurred.

You can speak to an advisor about your specific case to learn more about your eligibility to pursue a medical negligence payout. Alternatively, you can ask them for further guidance on how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis.

What Compensation Could You Claim For Medical Misdiagnosis?

A medical negligence settlement awarded following a successful claim could be formed of up to two heads of claim:

  • General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by the medical negligence.
  • Special damages compensate for the financial losses caused by the medical negligence. This can include loss of earnings, fees for healthcare, or transport costs. You can present documents like payslips or receipts to prove any monetary losses.

General damages can be calculated using medical evidence alongside the guideline figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG.) We have used the JCG to put together the below table.

However, please note that the figures are a guide and do not represent a guarantee of what you will receive following a successful medical negligence claim. This is because settlements vary depending on the unique circumstances of each case.

Compensation Table

Edit
Harm Type Compensation – Guidelines Notes
Brain and Head – Very Severe £282,010 to £403,990 Nursing care is required on a full-time basis.
Kidney £169,400 to £210,400 Both kidneys are lost or seriously and permanently damaged.
Bowels Up to £184,200 The affected person suffers double incontinence and further medical complications.
Female Reproductive System £114,900 to £170,280 Infertility due to injury or disease with significant medical complications, such as following a failure to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy.
Lung Disease £70,030 to £97,330 Lung cancer causing severe pain alongside function impairment and an effect on quality of life.
Ankle – Very Severe £50,060 to £69,700 A transmalleolar fracture coupled with extensive soft tissue damage, causing deformity.
Spleen £20,800 to £26,290 A loss of the spleen with an ongoing risk of internal infection and other disorders due to a damaged immune system.

For further guidance on compensation for medical negligence claims, please contact an advisor on the number above.

What Is A No Win No Fee Misdiagnosis Claim?

If you have a valid medical negligence claim, you could instruct one of our solicitors to assist you in seeking compensation. Some of the ways they could help include:

  • Assistance gathering evidence
  • Valuing your claim
  • Explaining complicated legal jargon
  • Working on your case at times you are unable to

Additionally, they can offer these services under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This contract is a form of No Win No Fee agreement which means your solicitor takes a success fee, partially to cover their services, if you win. This is a percentage of the compensation that is capped by the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. If your claim fails, you won’t need to pay them this fee. 

If you would like to learn more about the services our solicitors can offer, and whether you’re eligible to have them represent your claim, contact an advisor. They can also provide further guidance on how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis. To get in touch, you can:

Further Guidance On How To Make A Complaint About Misdiagnosis

We have many other useful guides on medical negligence, including the below:

You may also find relevant information through these sources:

Thank you for reading our guide on how to make a complaint about misdiagnosis and claim for medical negligence. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact an advisor on the number above.

Guide by EM

Edited by MMI