Delayed diagnosis claim
The Specialist team at Attwaters Solicitors are experts in delayed diagnosis claims. We’ve found recently that delayed diagnosis is not as rare a thing as it should be.
Doctors and medical staff are generally experienced professionals, and we rightly put our trust in them, however mistakes can be made. For example, a prolonged misdiagnosis by your GP may delay vital cancer treatment. Perhaps diagnostic errors in an A&E department may have prevented you from being referred to the right specialist. The consequences of a delay may affect your recovery chances or worse.
For example, we are currently working on a delayed treatment case for a Mrs A. Here’s how her story is unfolding.
Following a history of gastric pain and weight loss Mrs A was referred to the hospital for further investigations relating to suspected upper gastro-intestinal cancer.
These investigations highlighted the need for biopsies and a CT scan. The CT scan identified an inflamed area and although histology confirmed that this was not malignant it was noted that Mrs A required an urgent referral to the colorectal team for follow up. Unfortunately, the results were signed off as normal and no referral was made.
This error was not noted by the hospital until Mrs A’s family brought it to their attention. However, by this stage Mrs A was extremely unwell and required an emergency hospital admission and surgery. This resulted in Mrs A requiring a stoma.
The hospital conducted an internal investigation which highlighted a number of failures and concluded that if the referral to the colorectal team had been made correctly then Mrs A would have avoided the admission to critical care and it is likely that she would not have required a stoma.
We are currently in the process of obtaining expert evidence to explore the failures in Mrs A’s care as identified in the investigation report.
If you or someone you know thinks you may have grounds for a delayed diagnosis claim, Attwaters Solicitors will offer you a jargon-free consultation and assessment free of charge. If we agree that your case is sufficiently strong, we will clearly explain the ways in which the costs may be covered, probably on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, before we start working together to achieve the outcome you deserve.You can trust us to work for you. But don’t take our word for it – take a look at our many successful claims.
