Are you wondering whether you can make a claim following a medical professional’s failure to treat cancer? We aim to provide you with all the necessary information you need to understand whether you’re eligible to make a legitimate medical negligence claim.
Additionally, this guide will explore the duty of care a medical professional owes you. We will also look at examples of how there could be a failure to correctly treat cancer.
Also, we will explore the potential medical negligence compensation amounts you could receive following a successful claim.
Furthermore, we will discuss how our panel of experienced solicitors may be able to take on your claim via a No Win No Fee agreement.
Alternatively, you can contact our advisors if you would like to speak with someone about your potential claim. Our friendly team is available 24/7 to answer your questions and offer you free legal advice.
To talk with our advisors today:
- Call us on 0800 408 7827
- Chat with us via our live support.
- Contact us online by filling out our form.
Choose A Section
- What Could Happen After A Failure To Treat Cancer?
- Reasons Why Cancer May Not Be Treated
- What Steps Can I Take If My Cancer Isn’t Treated?
- Determining Compensation After A Failure To Treat Cancer
- What Is A No Win No Fee Claim?
- More Information About What To Do After A Failure To Treat Cancer
What Could Happen After A Failure To Treat Cancer?
The NHS states that cancer is a condition where cells grow and reproduce uncontrollably in a specific part of the body. These cancerous cells can destroy and invade surrounding healthy tissue, including your organs. Various symptoms could indicate cancer, such as unexplained bleeding, lumps and changes to moles.
They also state that surgery is usually the first type of treatment for most forms of cancer, as surgery could remove solid tumours. Additionally, there are 2 other common treatment methods:
- Chemotherapy – This is when medicine is used to kill cancer cells.
- Radiotherapy – This is when radiation is used to kill cancer cells with the controlled use of high-energy X-Rays.
As we have already stated, all medical practitioners owe you a duty of care. This includes ensuring you receive the correct standard of care to ensure you avoid unnecessary harm. This duty of care extends to various medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, surgeons and anaesthetist.
Medical professionals owe you this duty of care in various medical settings, such as hospitals and GP surgeries. If a medical professional were to provide you with care that is below the correct standard of care and you are caused avoidable harm, this is considered as medical negligence.
In order to make a valid medical negligence claim, you need to prove that you suffered avoidable harm due to a medical professional breaching their duty of care.
Contact us today for more information on how to claim following a medical professional’s failure to treat cancer.
Recent Statistics On Hospital Negligence
In February 2020, the NHS released a report on the monthly delayed transfers of care in England. In this report, they stated that in February 2020, there were 155,700 total delayed days. Additionally, 103,000 of those delays were in acute care. Furthermore, they state that these delayed days are equivalent to an average of 5,370 people being delayed per day.
The NHS were attributed to 59.7% of these delays, with 30.3% being attributed to Social Care.
Reasons Why Cancer May Not Be Treated
There are various reasons why cancer may not be treated. However, to make a valid claim for the failure to treat cancer, you must prove that it occurred as a result of a medical professional breaching their duty of care. Additionally, this breach must have caused you avoidable harm.
Some examples of how cancer could go untreated could include:
- A doctor fails to conduct the proper diagnostics tests, resulting in a medical misdiagnosis. As a result of being diagnosed with the incorrect condition, you don’t receive the necessary medical treatment leading to your condition worsening.
- A hospital provides you with the wrong treatment that means your condition isn’t treated correctly. This can lead to your cancer worsening.
However, sometimes a medical professional may withdraw your medical treatment, which would still be in accordance with their duty of care. For example, if your cancer became resistant to the treatment, or if there was an unlikely success of the treatment working.
Remember, for your claim to be valid, you need to prove that medical negligence occurred due to a professional breaching their duty of care to you, which caused you avoidable harm.
Call our advisors today if you are still unsure whether you have a legitimate claim.
What Steps Can I Take If My Cancer Isn’t Treated?
If you decide you want to pursue a medical negligence claim due to a medical professional’s failure to treat cancer, there are certain steps you could take.
For example, you could gather evidence to support your claim such as a copy of your medical records, stating any treatment or diagnosis you received or correspondence with the medical institution in which you suffered avoidable harm.
Additionally, you may want to receive some legal advice about starting a medical negligence claim. If so, our team of advisors are here to help you. They can provide free legal advice and may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel if your claim is valid and has a chance of being successful.
To learn more, get in touch on the number above.
Determining Compensation For A Failure To Treat Cancer
Following a successful medical negligence claim, your settlement may be divided into two heads of claim. These are:
- General damages – This head aims to compensate you for the harm caused as a result of the medical negligence. Consideration is given to the pain and suffering you have experienced as a result and the impact the harm has had on your quality of life.
- Special damages – They aim to compensate you for the financial losses you’ve suffered as a result of the harm you sustained due to medical negligence. This can include lost wages, paying for domestic care and travel expenses.
You will need to provide sufficient evidence of your suffering for special damages. This could be invoices and bank statements.
Additionally, when valuing the general damages head of claim, solicitors may consult medical evidence you have provided in support of your claim to help them. Alongside this, they may use the guideline compensation brackets in the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
We created the following table using the JCG. However, as several factors are considered when valuing general damages, you should only use the figures as a guide.
| Type of Harm | Other Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Bowel | (a) - Complete loss of natural bowel and urinary function, alongside other medical complications. | Up to £184,200 |
| Bowel | (b) - Depending on the person’s age, there may be a dependence on a colostomy following the complete loss of the bowel's natural function. | Up to £150,110 |
| Reproductive System - Female | (a) - Pain, severe anxiety and scarring with sexual dysfunction due to infertility caused by a disease or injury. | £114,900 to £170,280 |
| Reproductive System - Female | (c) - No sexual dysfunction or aggressive features in a young person with no children despite suffering infertility. | £56,080 to £71,350 |
| Reproductive System - Male | (a) - A complete loss of the reproductive organs. | In excess of £153,870 |
| Reproductive System - Male | (d) - Uncomplicated sterility in a young person with no children, without any impotence or other features that are aggravating. | £56,080 to £71,350 |
| Bladder | (b) The bladder has completely lost its function and control. | Up to £140,660 |
| Lung Disease | (a) - Possibility of premature death in a young person with a serious disability. There is a chance of the condition worsening. | £100,670 to £135,920 |
| Lung Disease | (b) - Lung function impairment and severe pain caused by lung cancer (usually in an older person). | £70,030 to £97,330 |
| Spleen | (a) - The spleen is completely lost. The immune system will have been damaged, and this will cause a continuing risk of internal infections. | £20,800 to £26,290 |
You might be entitled to compensation following a doctor’s failure to treat cancer. Call us today to see whether you have a valid claim.
What Is A No Win No Fee Claim?
An experienced solicitor from our panel might be able to take on your medical negligence claim under a No Win No Fee agreement. There are many types but the solicitors from our panel can offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Under a CFA, you can access your solicitor’s services without paying an upfront fee or ongoing costs. Additionally, you will not have to pay them anything for their services if your claim fails. Alternatively, for a successful claim, you will pay your solicitor a success fee from your compensation. This amount is capped by law.
Contact us for more information about whether a solicitor could represent your medical negligence compensation claim.
Contact Us To Begin A Medical Negligence Claim
If you are still wondering how to make a medical negligence claim for the failure to treat cancer or whether you’re eligible to seek compensation, contact us today.
Our advisors can offer free legal advice concerning your potential claim. They can also answer any other questions you may have regarding seeking compensation.
To talk with our advisors today:
- Call us on 0800 408 7827
- Chat with us via our live support.
- Contact us online by filling out our form.
More Information About What To Do After A Failure To Treat Cancer
For more articles on medical negligence:
- Medication errors by a pharmacy – how to make a claim
- Hospital-acquired infection compensation claims
- Botched liposuction surgery medical negligence claims
For additional external resources:
- General Medical Council (GMC) – Patient guides and materials
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) – Report a concern
- GOV – NHS Constitution for England.
Call us today for more information on whether you could claim compensation after a medical professional’s failure to treat cancer caused you avoidable harm.
Guide by NO
Editor NM