Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis

Understanding medical misdiagnosis. Protecting your rights.

When healthcare doesn’t meet the standard you deserve, we are here to help.

Our experienced Medical Negligence team guides you through the process of making a claim for misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

What is medical misdiagnosis?

A misdiagnosis occurs when a medical professional provides an incorrect diagnosis for your condition. This can lead to inappropriate treatment or no treatment at all, potentially affecting your health and wellbeing.

A delayed diagnosis happens when your correct condition isn’t identified promptly, either because it was missed entirely or an incorrect diagnosis was given initially. This delay in receiving proper treatment can significantly impact your health outcomes and recovery options.

Common types of misdiagnosis cases

We understand that any medical misdiagnosis can be distressing. Our team has extensive experience supporting clients through various misdiagnosis cases, including:

• Cancer diagnosis delays
• Unrecognised strokes
• Missed sepsis symptoms
• Undiagnosed pulmonary embolisms
• Overlooked heart conditions
• Misinterpreted test results and scans
• Unidentified fractures

Making a misdiagnosis claim

Our team will help establish if you have grounds for a claim by working with medical experts to demonstrate that:

• Your diagnosis was delayed or incorrect
• This delay or error has caused you harm
• Your treatment options or outcomes have been affected

Understanding your timeline

If you’ve experienced a misdiagnosis or delayed misdiagnosis, it’s important to understand your legal position.

The Limitation Act 1980 states that an individual has three years to begin legal proceedings from the date of an incident. This does not mean that you have to complete your case before the third anniversary of your misdiagnosis, but you must begin court proceedings by that date.

Failure to do so will result in your claim being time barred and will not likely be able to make or continue a claim. However, in medical negligence claims you may not be aware of any incident until after the event. If that is the case, then the three year limitation can run from a date of knowledge which is calculated as the first occasion when you became aware that something had gone wrong and that it had caused you harm.

We recommend seeking advice early, as building a strong medical negligence claim requires careful preparation. Our team will:

• Listen to your experience with care and understanding
• Explain your options in clear, straightforward terms
• Guide you through each stage of the claims process
• Work with medical experts to support your case