Unfortunately, NHS resources are often stretched so delayed and missed diagnoses are much more common than they should be. Often this results in further injury, or the loss of the opportunity to make a full recovery.

In the most serious cases, there may be devastating consequences. An incorrect diagnosis can shorten a patient's life expectancy, by preventing an illness from being treated in a timely manner. Doctors have a responsibility to provide care that would be considered acceptable by others in their field and failure to do so could be considered clinical negligence.

Naturally, there is nothing that can make up for this lost time. However, making a claim for compensation for injuries caused by a delayed diagnosis can provide support for patients dealing with these difficult circumstances, help families in need, and deliver a sense of justice.

If you've suffered harm because medical professionals failed to make a prompt and accurate diagnosis of your illness or injury, you can make a compensation claim. If successful, you will not only receive money that can make your life much more comfortable - you will help to prevent similar incidents from happening to other people in the future.

Switalskis is dedicated to fighting for justice on behalf of patients who suffered injury due to medical negligence. To talk about your circumstances and find out more about making a delayed diagnosis compensation claim, contact us today.

If a medical professional was negligent in failing to make a prompt diagnosis of your injury or illness, and this failure caused you further harm, then you may be entitled to claim compensation. There are many different situations in which such an error might occur. For example, your doctors or other medical professionals might have made one of the following mistakes:

• Failed to notice, or appreciate the significance of symptoms, signs, test results, etc.
• Ignored your self-reported symptoms
• Didn't refer you for tests, follow-up treatment or a consultation with an appropriate specialist
• Failed to prioritise urgent conditions
• Diagnosed the wrong condition, which meant that the original condition went unnoticed

To make a successful delayed diagnosis claim, there are two things we need to prove:

• That medical staff missed clear signs of a serious medical condition and failed to diagnose the problem at an early stage; and
• That the unnecessary delay in diagnosis caused the problem to get worse, whether because it delayed treatment or led to you receiving inappropriate treatment.

There may be other factors that will affect your ability to claim  compensation. Ultimately, it depends on the specific circumstances of your case. Therefore, the best way to discover whether or not a clinical negligence might be appropriate is to speak to a specialist medical negligence solicitor. The team at Switalskis can discuss your case sensitively and with care, and let you know whether or not we can help you to make a claim.

Understanding the time constraints for delayed diagnosis claims is vital to make sure you don't miss out on the opportunity to seek justice and compensation. Generally, you have three years from the date of the injury caused by negligence, or from the date you became aware that you might have suffered injury due to negligence, to start court proceedings. This is known as the limitation period.

There are a few exceptions to this:

• Children: if the person who suffered the negligence was under 18 at the time, the three-year period doesn’t start until their 18th birthday. This means they have until they turn 21 to start legal proceedings.
• Mental capacity: if the person who suffered the negligence lacks mental capacity to make their own decisions at the time they suffered injury, then the time limit doesn’t start to run unless and until they regain such capacity.
• Fatal cases: if you’re claiming in relation to a deceased person, the claim must be made within three years of the date of death, or the date of knowledge that they had suffered harm due to negligence.

In some rare cases, the courts may decide to extend the limitation period. However, relying on this is risky, as this is only ever done at the discretion of the courts.

Starting the process sooner rather than later means all evidence is fresh and readily available, and means you won't run the risk of missing a deadline. If you're uncertain about whether you're within the time limit or if you believe you have exceptional circumstances, speak to the medical negligence team at Switalskis for guidance, even if other solicitors have told you that you’re out of time.