What is the Average Payout For Cancer Misdiagnosis UK?

Cancer Misdiagnosis refers to when a GP or Specialist fails to accurately assess a case of or the true status of a patient’s cancer condition. It can also refer to when a person who is free is falsely diagnosed with the ailment or when a person on treatment is given the all clear that the cancer has gone into remission when it hasn’t.

Statistics in the UK on cancer misdiagnosis which shows that cancer is the second most common cause of death with about 164,000 people dying of the disease between 2016 and 2018 also says that 20% of cancer patients are only correctly diagnosed of their condition after more than 6months. Additionally, researches show that 10% to 20% of all cancer cases in the world are misdiagnosed.

Pancreatic cancer with a misdiagnosis rate of nearly 31% has one of the highest misdiagnosis rates. However, lung cancer is arguably the deadliest form of cancer and also the third most common.

Breast cancer is said to affect one in eight women and as of 2017, UK cancer statistics showed that almost 50% of all cancer deaths were lung, bowel, breast or prostate cancer. Cancer Research UK in 2018 also found that 22% of all cancer cases were only found at the A&E.

The Cancer Research UK estimates that 52,000 patients a year are having their chances of survival cut because of late diagnosis of the disease.

Commonly Misdiagnosed Cancers include:

• Breast Cancer
• Lymphoma
• Bone Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Ovarian Cancer
• Testicular Cancer

Misdiagnosis of Different Cancer Types

This can happen as a result of the following factors;

• Failing or unnecessary delays in recommending the relevant diagnosis tests-
• Incorrect reading or wrong interpretation of these tests results
• Failure of GPs to refer their patients to specialists for confirmation after a suspected case
• Immense pressures on healthcare providers
• Cases can also be misdiagnosed because certain cancers at the onset have symptoms that are similar to other not very serious medical conditions

NHS Cancer Misdiagnosis Payouts

In the UK, cancer misdiagnosis payouts differ from one case to another since these cases are different and the factors which will determine the payout amount also differ.

Although the average compensation amount for medical negligence claims in the UK is about £50,000, that of cancer misdiagnosis negligence is much higher.

It is estimated that the average payout for NHS cancer negligence is about £350,000. However, compensation amounts can also get up to millions of pounds depending on several factors which include;

• Type of cancer
• Severity of damages caused by misdiagnosis
• Financial losses as a result of the misdiagnosis
• Estimated time for recovery or future prognosis
• Travel expenses for medical appointments
• Cost of rehabilitation including purchase of mobility aids and assistive devices
• Hiring caregivers where the individual is unable to carry out daily functions unaided
• Cost of modifying the individual’s home to suit the current condition

These are broadly divided into-

General Damages- which takes care of the severity of the damage caused by the misdiagnosis- the suffering, trauma or complication.

Special Damages- which takes into account the financial losses incurred such as loss of earnings, out-of-pocket expenses and other financial factors including costs of medical appointments, rehabilitation costs, etc.

Making Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims

For you to make successful cancer misdiagnosis claims, you would have to reach out to expert cancer misdiagnosis solicitors to undertake your case. However, there are four areas of medical negligence which must be established for your cancer misdiagnosis claim to be successful. These are-

• Duty- establish that your medical professional owed you a duty of care
• Deviation- prove that the duty of care was breached
• Direct causation- show that he breach of duty is the direct cause of the unnecessary pain and suffering you are passing through
• Damages- show how your quality of life has been severely affected negatively physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, as a result of the misdiagnosis.

When you come to us, our cancer misdiagnosis solicitors will carefully listen to your story and make a careful evaluation of the case to be sure you have a case. We will also inform you of documents you would need to prove your claim which include the following;

• Your full and comprehensive statements detailing the timeline of events including appointment dates, staff who attended to you, diagnosis made and every other relevant information relevant to the case.
• Test and scan results
• Witness statements from family or friends
• Evidence of financial losses incurred as a result of medical negligence. This will include- past, current and future estimated financial losses as well as other out-of-pocket expenses
• Photographs showing extent of damage where applicable

We would also ask an independent medical expert to review you and give us a report which would be vital in the claims.

Why Choose Us

Having undertaken and successfully won several cases of misdiagnosed cancer, you can be sure of the best possible legal representation from our highly experienced team of cancer misdiagnosis solicitors.

Therefore, if you or your loved one has suffered as a result of misdiagnosis of cancer such as a wrongly diagnosed cancer of any type, you could have strong grounds for a cancer negligence claim.

Cancer misdiagnosis cases we undertake include- ovarian cancer misdiagnosis, breast cancer misdiagnosis claim, bone cancer misdiagnosis claims, bowel cancer misdiagnosis claims, brain cancer misdiagnosis claims, liver cancer misdiagnosis claims, lung cancer misdiagnosis claims, cervical cancer misdiagnosis claims, among others.

While making your compensation claim, we will use our medical negligence calculator to give you a realistic idea of what you can expect as your cancer misdiagnosis compensation amount.

We also want to inform you that our consultation sessions are free of charge even as we undertake cancer misdiagnosis negligence cases on a no win no fee claim basis which gives you the chance to make your claims without having to worry about any financial implications.

Reach out to us today via our helplines for further enquiries and to get your claims started. It is important you make the decision to start your claims as soon as you can as you would normally have a limitation period of three years after the negligence has been discovered to make your claims.