Medical negligence claims are inherently hard to win. The line between what is accepted as an ‘inherent risk’ or an ‘unavoidable scenario’ and negligent care can be thin. Most surgical procedures carry with them inherent risks, and some injuries and conditions are not easy to identify as quickly as we might hope.
But when it comes to waiting for care or waiting for a diagnosis, what is classed as too long? When delays result in complications or problems, what can be done?
The idea behind this one came from a few stories I’ve seen in the media today about referral times in Scotland falling short of what is expected of the NHS there. It’s easy to see that a delay in being referred for care and treatment can result in prolonged suffering and further damage.
A disease could become more widespread if left untreated or unidentified for too long. An injury could be exacerbated or made worse if it is not immobilised or treated quickly enough. There are many things that can go wrong when care isn’t provided within a prescribed timeframe. I was the victim of a multi-ligament rupture in my knee, and they told me right away that the operation needs to be done within two to three weeks for the best chance of recovery.
So when is too long too long, and when can you make a claim for personal injury compensation if you suffer because you are not referred for care quick enough or you’re not diagnosed fast enough?
It’s all about medical proof!
The burden to prove your claim is always on you as the victim. We need medical evidence and access to your medical records to help us build a case. If we got your records and they showed an x-ray image that clearly identified a fracture in your leg, but this was missed by whoever reviewed the images, you could have a case. We’d want to give access of the records to our own independent expert who can review them and form an opinion as to whether this should have been identified or not.
If you were exhibiting certain symptoms that should have been indicative of a particular injury or disease and this was missed, you could have a claim. If what you exhibited and informed the medical professionals is documented in your records, and our expert agreed that these symptoms should have allowed for a diagnosis, that can form as evidence for a claim.
But sometimes things cannot be identified immediately. If we use the fracture example again, there could be swelling that could mask the fracture making it invisible on x-ray images. If this is the case, how can they have been negligent? Of course, they should look to provide you with follow up care which could be future x-rays once the swelling has subsided, for example.
If you have suffered for a prolonged period of time, or your injury or disease has been exacerbated and you believe the cause of this is a failure to refer you or failure to properly diagnose you, its always worth speaking to us for some free, no obligation, legal advice.
Call us on 0800 634 75 75 for help and advice today.
