Most times, if we feel unwell for any length of time, the first person we visit is our GP. We trust them to take good care of us, often having been a patient of theirs for many years. What we do not expect is for them to make an error with our treatment or diagnosis, something that could make us more ill than before we went to see them.
A GP sees a large amount of people every week, all with varying illnesses and conditions. Coping with this, even though they are extremely highly trained, is not always easy. The majority of GPs deliver a great service the vast majority of the time and patients are grateful for the care they receive.
There are several areas your GP could make a mistake, and some of them could have disastrous results for your health. This is typically why medical negligence solicitors are asked to get involved, so the patient can be compensated for the medical malpractice they have suffered.
Failure to Diagnose the Correct Illness
From a patient’s point of view, one of the worst things that can happen is when their GP fails to diagnose a serious illness, and sends them away with medication for something much more minor. There are some symptoms that are typical of cancer, for instance, and if they fail to send you for further tests because they miss this fact it could be very serious. It could also be some time before you go back to them feeling even worse.
With all cancers, finding it early is important where any treatment is concerned, and a delay in diagnosing the problem could mean that the cancer treatment is less effective, and your life expectancy shortened. In this situation you should not just suffer in silence, you should talk to solicitors who can provide free initial advice about claiming compensation. You can find this option on websites such as the-medical-negligence-experts.co.uk who have a quick contact form you can fill in to request a free call back.
The money you are awarded is not the only reason to make your claim, although of course it will be useful. Your claim will highlight the GP’s mistake, and hopefully stop it from happening to someone else.
Prescription Errors
New drugs are being developed all the time, and sometimes, old ones are taken off the market. Your GP should be up to date with all the changes, and make sure they do not prescribe the wrong medication for you.
Taking the incorrect drugs could make you worse, or even create a problem you did not have before. Medicines can have terrible side effects for patients, which can be worsened by the fact you are taking the wrong one and suffering unnecessarily. This type of medical negligence is more common than is sometimes realised, and is exactly why you want the best medical negligence solicitors to be on your side.
Interpreting Test Results Incorrectly
If your GP interprets your test results incorrectly, it is very likely you will also be treated incorrectly. This could lead to all sorts of complications, now and for your future health. You may have had to wait a week or more to get these results, in which time your condition may have already worsened. To then be given the wrong treatments because of misinterpretation is just not fair, and you should not have to suffer because of someone else’s mistake.
Making a medical negligence claim will not undo the damage your GP has caused you, but it can help coping with it all a little easier, giving you a measure of financial stability, something you may have lost because your doctor got it wrong.
Lack of Monitoring
There are some illnesses, such as diabetes and kidney diseases, that need regular monitoring or they can become much worse without the patient realising. If you have one of the many illnesses of this type and your GP fails to monitor your condition on a regular basis, this amounts to medical negligence.
If you’re diabetic your blood sugar levels could be getting worse, and your medication needs increasing to cope with this. If you are not checked out and you are left on lower levels of insulin, the sugar in your blood can get so high it can cause a multitude of other serious problems.
Vision can be affected, heart problems and even loss of digits. If this has happened to you, through the negligence of your GP, medical negligence lawyers will be able to help you make a claim for compensation.
If you need help monitoring your diabetes, refer to this site: https://familydoctor.org/monitoring-your-blood-sugar-level/.
Can You Make a Claim?
Many patients make medical negligence claims UK against their GP every year. To find out if you’re entitled to make a claim you need advice from specialist medical negligence solicitors. Using experts to help you with your claim ensures you get the best possible result. Most will have a chat with you without any obligation to go ahead, that choice will always be yours.