Successful NHS cancer misdiagnosis claim against a GP.
We were contacted by our client after he received a cancer diagnosis that he felt could and should have been identified sooner than it was. Our Partner and Clinical Negligence team lead Oliver Thorne took on the case under a no win, no fee agreement and started legal action against the GP who failed our client.
Sadly our client later passed from his cancer and his claim was taken on by his wife.
Background
On 9 November 2016 our client first attended his GP practice as he was suffering from  pain in his shoulder which has been present for a number of weeks and which was getting worse. He was advised to take pain killers and return if the pain didn’t settle.
Later in November our client returned to the GP and saw the defendant. At this point the pain had become far worse and the lump which had appeared on his shoulder was sore to touch. Our client was concerned that that his shoulder was appearing more prominent on one side because of the lump and asked the defendant about this. The defendant advised him that everyone’s anatomy is different and he should not be concerned about the right side sticking out. The defendant referred our client for an x-ray and performed some blood tests.
A week or so later our client was advised by the defendant that his results from the x-ray and blood test were normal. Despite this, during Christmas our client’s lump continued to grow and remained painful.
Because of this, our client continued to see the defendant for the following months continually reporting increasing pain and the growth of the lump, however, it wasn’t until April that our client was finally referred to be been seen by an upper limb specialist and was given an ultrasound scan which indicated the lump could be a sarcoma. It was later confirmed that the lump was definitely a sarcoma and in October 2017 our client underwent an operation to remove the lump.
Unfortunately the operation was unable to remove the cancer and it continued to progress. Â Sadly in August 2019 our client lost his battle with cancer and passed away.
Our case
It was our case that the defendant, our client’s GP, failed to properly consider all of our client’s symptoms at the initial appointment, and the defendant should have referred our client for an ultrasound scan based on the condition of our client and his symptoms at this time. It was also our case that the defendant breached their duty when telling our client their initial x-ray report was all clear given that the x-ray had failed to visualise the area of concern.
This meant that our client suffered from November 2026 to March 2017 when he could have been having further examinations, which would have meant that the sarcoma was found sooner.
Outcome
Oliver continued to fight for our client, even after his death. He worked closely with experts and instructed a Barrister to assist him in putting the strongest position forward to the defense.
To avoid formally issuing court proceedings and potentially causing the costs and timeline for the case to greatly increase, Oliver proposed an exchange of witness statements with the defense. Following this exchange the defense, recognising the strong position of our client as had been positioned by Oliver, made an offer to settle the case which was accepted by our client.
How we can help you
We are highly experienced in dealing with medical negligence claims involving cancer, and you can read about another of Oliver’s successes relating to delayed diagnosis of cancer here.
Contact us for expert guidance on making an NHS cancer misdiagnosis claim. We provide a free case assessment service. All you need to do is contact us by phone or email and we will carry out a free review. We will also provide details of No Win, No Fee funding.
