Medical negligence is where avoidable harm is caused to a patient due to receiving care that does not meet the correct standard. A duty of care, a legal responsibility to look after another’s wellbeing, is owed by all medical professionals to those they are providing care to ensure that the care meets the correct standard.

Medical negligence can occur in any healthcare setting. We’ve included several examples in the sections below.

Misdiagnosis

A misdiagnosis is any time your health condition is not properly identified despite having clear signs of that condition. This includes being diagnosed with something else or a delay in being diagnosed, although we will examine this in greater detail below. 

An example of where a misdiagnosis can amount to medical negligence is if you showed clear signs of cancer yet your scans were misinterpreted and you were therefore not diagnosed, resulting in the cancer spreading. 

Incorrect Treatment

Incorrect treatment is exactly what it sounds like. Errors at the hospital, GP surgery or specialist clinic resulted in your receiving the wrong treatment. An obvious example of this would be unnecessary surgery.

So, where a medical professional fails to fully explain alternatives to surgery that would have worked for your case and been much less invasive, and performs the surgical procedure anyway. You could be entitled to compensation for the pain, scarring and other complications that arise from the surgical procedure. 

Medication Errors

This means that you were administered the wrong dosage, the wrong type of medication or you were given something you had a known allergy to, resulting in severe anaphylaxis. 

Delayed Diagnosis

A delayed diagnosis is where your condition is correctly identified but it has taken much longer than it should have done. This can be as a result of poorly performed or wrongly interpreted tests, a failure to identify symptoms or medical professionals not referring their patients for additional tests. 

This can have lasting and severe impacts, including a reduction of life expectancy if a cancer diagnosis is delayed and the tumours spread to other organs or your bones. 

Failure To Monitor

Patients should be adequately monitored while in the hospital. This is particularly important post-surgery, or if the patient has breathing difficulties or heart problems, for example. Failing to monitor patients can mean choking, cardiac arrest or other serious sudden developments are not spotted, and the patient is put at serious risk.

It can also mean that bed sores, infections and other less immediate health concerns are missed, which can result in severe medical complications.

Failure To Refer

Failure to refer means a medical professional does not send their patient for additional tests or examinations despite their showing clear symptoms of something being wrong. 

For example, a medical professional does not refer their patient for further testing or scans despite their showing clear signs of a stomach ulcer. The ulcer later burst, requiring emergency surgery, causing significant pain and scarring. 

Errors In Surgery

Surgical errors encompass any mistake during surgical procedures. These can vary greatly in their severity and impact depending on the surgery being performed, but all surgeons are expected to abide by the code of conduct from the Royal College of Surgeons.

So, if you were having surgery on your face, and an incision was made too deep, you could end up with facial paralysis due to nerve damage. 

Never Events

A never event is always medical negligence. This is a list of medical mistakes that would not occur if the correct standard of care is provided. A clear example of this is wrong site surgery. This is where you were scheduled to have an operation on your left knee for example, but errors in the hospital resulted in surgeons beginning the procedure on your right knee. 

Read on to find out the eligibility criteria to begin a medical negligence claim, or contact our advisors for a free assessment today.