Compensation could be owed to you in a misdiagnosis claim if you can show a medical professional fell short of expected standards of healthcare delivery. This guide discusses cancer misdiagnosis claims and what the average payout might be if a medical negligence claim is successful.
All medical professionals owe patients a duty of care at every stage of their treatment. Surgeons, clinicians, specialists, and nursing staff must all endeavour to meet the professional standards expected of them. If they fail and this causes you to suffer avoidable or unnecessary harm, you could have a medical negligence claim against the NHS or private healthcare provider at fault.
- Call to discuss your potential cancer misdiagnosis payout on 0800 408 7827
- Use the live discussion forum at the bottom of the screen to start the conversation.
- Contact us online here. Or read on to learn more.
Go To A Section Of Our Guide
- Types Of Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
- Which Types Of Cancer Are The Most Misdiagnosed?
- Average Payouts For Misdiagnosed Cancer
- Can I Make A Claim Against The NHS?
- Starting The Claims Process
- How our panel of solicitors can help with your claim
- More Information
Types Of Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims
There are numerous ways that cancer can be misdiagnosed or overlooked but this might not necessarily lead to a claim. To claim compensation for negligent medical treatment, care or advice, you will need to show three things:
- A duty of care applied to you.
- It was not met.
- You suffered unnecessary harm.
You are automatically owed a duty of care as a patient. The duty owed to you is that the medical professional will provide you with the minimum accepted standard of care. This can include performing a proper physical examination, taking an accurate medical history and considering your symptoms. It could include performing appropriate tests and acting on their results.
Each case will turn on its facts, but let us look at some examples of how a negligent delayed diagnosis could happen.
Negligently Delayed Diagnosis
This is when the GP, specialist or other professional fails to meet the minimum accepted standard of care and, in doing so, fails to identify cancer as the underlying cause of illness.
Some examples include:
- A doctor forgets to order blood tests that would have revealed cancer. It is several months before this error is picked up, and the patient has a worse outcome.
- Common symptoms of cancer, such as unexpected weight loss or fatigue, are not enquired about during a consultation. If a thorough medical history had been taken, this would have altered the doctor to the risk that cancer could be present.
- A patient’s test results are mixed up, and a patient is misdiagnosed with bronchitis, but in fact, they have lung cancer. The delay in treatment means they have to undergo more invasive treatment to cure them than if the cancer had been detected at the correct time.
Not every delay in a cancer diagnosis will involve negligence. We offer a free case assessment, and if you think you may have not received the correct standard of care, then there is nothing to lose by contacting us to see if you can claim.
Does An Incorrect All-Clear Count As Cancer Misdiagnosis?
The same criteria for making a claim apply if you have been given the all-clear for cancer, and this is not correct. Sometimes, this could be negligent if the cancer has been missed due to medical professionals failing to meet the minimum standard of care.
It can be difficult to know if you have a claim for cancer misdiagnosis, but our team are on hand to answer any questions you may have.
Which Types Of Cancer Are The Most Misdiagnosed?
Here are some examples of cancer that can be misdiagnosed and what it can be mistaken for:
- Breast cancer – This may be mistaken with fibrocystic breasts, as they also feel like lumps.
- Lung cancer – Other chronic lung diseases like asthma, COPD, bronchitis or pneumonia might be diagnosed in error.
- Colorectal cancer – This cancer may be confused with diverticulitis, a type of inflammation in the digestive system.
- Pancreatic cancer – Gallbladder diseases, peptic ulcers, and acid reflux might be diagnosed rather than cancer.
- Ovarian cancer – This often has symptoms, which include abdominal pain and can be mistaken for less serious conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or infections in the urinary tract.
- Lymphoma – This form of cancer often has symptoms that include weight loss, fatigue, skin rashes and swollen lymph nodes, which are also common symptoms associated with colds and flu.
Many other cancers can be misdiagnosed as a range of other medical conditions. Call to discuss your circumstances, and we will do our best to help you.
Average Payouts For Misdiagnosed Cancer
There is no average payout amount for misdiagnosed cancer, as every claim is different, so we cannot give you a figure for this. We can, however, tell you how your compensation would be calculated. The compensation award made in a successful medical negligence claim covers two main types of harm. General damages value the actual physical pain, psychological injury and consequences of misdiagnosis, and special damages cover your financial losses.
The groups involved in valuing general damages will refer to the medical evidence that has been submitted to guide their calculations. In addition to this, they will often look at publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
This document offers an index of award bracket amounts for various injuries. They are listed in order of severity. Importantly, the figures in the JC Guidelines are only guidelines, and every claim will vary according to individual circumstances.
Below is an example table with injuries and figures from the JCG (except the top entry, which is not from the JCG).
| TYPE OF HARM | SEVERITY | GUIDELINE COMPENSATORY GUIDELINES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than one type of serious harm and special damages | Serious | Up to £1 million plus. | This typically reflects the suffering caused by more than one form of harm and the damage to finances such as lost income and care expenses. |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe (a) | £344,150 up to £493,000 | Cases that leave the person barely able to follow basic commands and in need of a constant level of professional care. |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £267,340 up to £344,150 | A serious level of reliance on others because of cognitive and limb paralysis issues. | |
| Bladder | Total natural function loss (a) | Up to £224,790 | Instances of double incontinence and lost bladder, urinary function and other complications. |
| Long-term issues (d) | £28,570 up to £38,210 | A recovery on the whole but with a degree of long-term interference with function. | |
| Kidney | Serious (a) | £206,730 up to £256,780 | Where both kidneys are damaged or lost. |
| Loss of One Kidney (c) | £37,550 up to £54,760 | Cases where one kidney is completely lost but no damage to the other. | |
| Bowel | Total loss of function (b) | Up to £183,190 | Completely lost function and reliance on colostomy. |
| Scarring | Large, disfiguring scar or several smaller ones. | £9,560 up to £27,740 | Scarring that affects the torso, leg(s), arm(s) or hand(s). |
| Hair | Consequence of defective treatment (a) | £8,960 up to £13,450 | May include cases of hair loss resulting from incorrect chemotherapy procedures. |
What You Can Include In Your Claim
You can also include a claim for the financial harm caused because of the cancer misdiagnosis. This head of loss is called special damages and can only be claimed in conjunction with general damages. Also, you need to show documented evidence of the financial losses. This might include the following:
- Evidence from your employer that you missed work or suffered a drop in income.
- Bills for medical treatments you had to pay for yourself.
- Receipts for amounts paid to anyone who looked after you at home.
- Tickets and proof of travel expenditure to hospital or get treatment.
- Proof of the expense of childcare arrangements.
Special damages may cover other forms of financial harm so it’s important to keep all documentation that you have. If a solicitor from our panel can take up your claim, they will comb through this with you to calculate a more thorough compensation total. Call to learn more about what can be included in cancer misdiagnosis claims.
Using A Claims Calculator
Many companies provide ‘claim calculator’ services on their websites that offer an instant amount of compensation that may be owed. Compensation calculators often miss crucial details that could have a huge bearing on the amount of damages that you’re actually owed. A claim is made only once, and it should include past and predicted losses.
Given this, it makes sense to discuss your cancer misdiagnosis claim in person. Our highly trained advisory team could connect you to a medical negligence specialist who can provide a far more accurate assessment of your potential compensation.
Can I Make A Claim Against The NHS?
Sometimes, the NHS will be the defendant in your claim, but it could also be a private provider of medical services. The same rules and criteria apply whether you are claiming against the NHS or a private doctor.
Money is set aside in the NHS budget to pay claims made for negligent care. This means that the damages you are awarded do not come out of front-line care. It is important to remember that the NHS wants to make patients better and that if commit negligence happens, they understand that they may have to pay damages.
You can raise a complaint about the treatment you received from the NHS and documents from this complaint could be used in your claim for compensation. The NHS has an entire department designated to handle claims of medical negligence, and you are within your legal rights to try and seek compensation.
Medical negligence can be quite complex, so you can use the services of a solicitor to help with this. Please call or email to discover how the expert solicitors on our panel could help navigate cancer misdiagnosis claims against the NHS.
Starting The Claims Process
If you satisfy the criteria discussed earlier in this guide, you can begin the process of claiming compensation for cancer misdiagnosis. The first step for many will be instructing a solicitor to help them, but let’s look at some of the steps involved in a claim.
Proving Medical Negligence
Presenting actual evidence of medical negligence is an essential part of the claims process. The following could be useful:
- Any correspondence that relates to the treatment you received for your cancer. This includes details of appointments you attended, referrals made for you, test results and medical notes proving the treatments you received.
- Retain copies of details about any complaint made to the NHS or private clinic that was treating you.
- Keep a diary of the date you first presented symptoms to your GP or hospital. Also, keep a record of when you first sought treatment for your symptoms.
- Take dated photos of injuries that are visible that resulted from the misdiagnosis.
If this feels daunting, you might also seek help from a solicitor to start a cancer misdiagnosis claim. To learn more about appointing a solicitor from our panel, speak to our advisory team and see if your claim qualifies.
Time Limits And How Long Your Claim Can Take
Medical negligence claims are subject to a three-year time limit as per the Limitation Act 1980. You do not need to finish your case in this time frame, but you must start it. This period typically starts from the date of injury or the ‘date of knowledge’, which is when you were reasonably expected to realise that negligence caused you harm.
A litigation friend is appointed to start claims for those under 18 or who lack mental capacity. Minors have three years to claim themselves after they turn 18 if no claim was made. Those lacking mental capacity also have three years starting from the date that their mental capacity returns.
Finding a Solicitor and Considering a No Win No Fee Claim
Not every solicitor offers a No Win No Fee contract to their clients. However, those on our panel can provide a version of this called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Working with a CFA typically means the following advantages to you:
- There’s no need to pay solicitors a fee to start work on cancer misdiagnosis claims.
- No fees apply for the solicitor’s advice as the claim develops.
- Solicitors require no payment for completed services if the claim fails.
- Claims that win require payment of a ‘success fee’, but this is a modest percentage of the compensation.
- This percentage is subject to a legal restriction to keep it low.
- Working in this way means you can access outstanding legal representation and keep the majority of the compensation awarded to you.
If you have concerns about the costs of appointing a solicitor to handle your cancer negligence claim, we could help. Talk to our team to see whether your claim qualifies. If it does, and you wish to proceed, the team could direct you to an expert solicitor from our panel today.
Our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors offer a wealth of excellent services to eligible readers seeking medical negligence compensation. They will:
- Work alongside you to collect supporting evidence of medical negligence.
- Use this evidence to calculate a much more precise amount of compensation.
- Communicate directly with the NHS or private clinic on your behalf.
- Meet the court deadlines and take care of Pre-Action Protocol steps.
- Also, they can help you understand any complex legal terminology as well as represent your cancer misdiagnosis claim with the utmost professionalism.
Dealing with cancer can take up all your time and energy. Rather than handling a medical negligence claim on your own, why not see if the solicitors from our panel can help? Simply connect with our advisory team on the contact options below to see if your claim qualifies:
- Contact us on our website.
- Call us at 0800 408 7827.
- Lastly, use our live advice feature on the corner of our website.
More Information
In addition to this guide on cancer misdiagnosis and how to claim, the following articles from our website give more:
- Here is information about breast cancer misdiagnosis and how to claim.
- Also, if cancer has been misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, there is more information here.
- In addition to this, read about making a lung cancer misdiagnosis claim.
Some External Resources:
- This resource explores cancer treatment from the NHS.
- Also, read information from Cancer Research to support cancer patients.
- You can access details on how NHS Resolution deals with clinical negligence issues.
In conclusion, thank you for reading this guide on cancer misdiagnosis claims. We invite you to contact our team if you need guidance on any of the topics raised in this guide.