A visit to the doctor is a routine experience for most patients. However, occasionally, a GP may make an error that amounts to medical negligence.

If you, or a member of your family, has experienced a poor standard of health care by your GP practice resulting in a worsening of a condition through misdiagnosis or failure to provide the right treatment, our medical negligence solicitors can advise you on whether you can make a GP negligence claim.

Free Initial Discussion

For no-obligation advice and information, call our specialist medical negligence solicitors today on 01642 252 828 or use our contact form and we will call you back.

GP Negligence Specialists

Patients go to see their GP for a whole host of reasons and in the vast majority of cases, your doctor provides appropriate advice or medication or refers you to a hospital consultant or to therapeutic services for treatment, such as physiotherapy. However, sometimes things can go wrong and errors occur that amount to GP medical negligence.

With over 25 years of experience in medical negligence claims, our specialist medical negligence team provides sensitive and sympathetic legal advice so you understand whether you have a potential GP negligence claim and your options.

Our lawyers understand the reluctance to complain about treatment received from busy GPs but if the care received by you fell below acceptable standards and your health was impacted you may have a GP negligence claim.

We will do our utmost to guide and support you through your medical negligence claim and to ensure that you or your family gets the compensation you need to be able to put the medical negligence behind you.

GP Medical Negligence Claims

GP medical negligence claims are not limited to the treatment provided by your doctor. GP claims apply to all healthcare services offered by your GP surgery, such as healthcare advice and treatment provided by:

• District nurses
• Practice nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Healthcare assistants
• Dieticians
• Practice pharmacists
• Physiotherapists
• Podiatrists

Not all GP practices offer this range of staff or services but GP negligence claims relate to any negligent treatment received at your doctor’s surgery, whatever the professional qualifications of the healthcare provider.

Types of GP Negligence Claim

There are many different types of GP negligence claim but some of the most common include:

• Not seeing a patient for a face-to-face appointment resulting in delays or errors in diagnosis
• Not conducting a physical examination
• Missing the red flag signs of a serious condition, such as meningitis or cancer, or a serious mental health condition
• Failing to refer patients to a hospital or a specialist for further investigations and scans
• Prescription errors such as not taking into account a patient’s existing health conditions or allergies when prescribing medication or prescribing an incorrect dosage
• Not reviewing vulnerable patients, such as those with diabetes, chronic asthma, or COPD
• Not reviewing repeat medication and checking the appropriateness of continued prescriptions resulting in organ damage or addiction to some medicines
• Not reading test or scan results correctly, such as blood test results for prostate cancer

Any GP error that results in the worsening of a medical condition due to healthcare that fell below an acceptable standard can amount to medical negligence, resulting in a potential GP negligence claim.

Compensation for GP Negligence

Compensation for GP negligence depends on the severity of the error and the extent of the impact of the medical mistake on your ongoing health. In some situations, a GP mistake can have devastating and long-term consequences for your family, such as failure to spot the signs of Strep A or meningitis resulting in sepsis and emergency hospital admission.

In other situations, you may be unsure about whether your GP or the hospital was negligent or the extent of the impact of the GP’s medical negligence on the progress of a disease such as Parkinson’s or a GP’s failure to recognise a minor stroke and get immediate treatment.

Our medical negligence team specialises in assessing compensation claims for GP negligence to ensure that you receive the compensation and damages you are entitled to in order to cover your:

• Pain and suffering
• Current and future loss of earnings
• Existing and future private healthcare costs
• Rehabilitation and support services
• Mobility aids and assistive technologies
• Home adaptations to your current property or the cost of moving to a new home if your property is not suitable

We know the difference that compensation and rehabilitation can make to you if you or a member of your family has experienced GP negligence. Our dedicated team will investigate your medical negligence claim and support and guide you through the claim process. A commitment to your long-term welfare is at the very heart of our approach.

How Macks Can Help

We will thoroughly explore your case and determine the best course of action that is tailored to your specific needs.

We will discuss the funding arrangement that best suits your case and provide you with efficient, practical advice.

Contact us

For more information about making a claim, you can call us on 01642 843 667; alternatively, complete our online contact form and one of our solicitors will be in touch.