GP Negligence

The main role of the General Practitioner is to take a history of the patient's symptoms, carry out an examination of the patient, make a diagnosis of the problem and to provide a management/treatment plan. Each of these stages can lead to errors being made by the GP which in turn may lead to a medical negligence claim.

History Of The Patient's Symptoms

During this stage, the GP must listen carefully to the patient's problem and then act accordingly. If he does not listen to and record the history accuratley he might make a misdiagnosis of the problem.

For instance, a patient who has previously been involved in a head on car accident at speed complaining of severe neck pain could simply have a severe whiplash injury, or possibly have a broken neck. Even if the patient has attended Accident and Emergency, the neck fracture can be missed on X-ray, and happens relatively frequently. In this example, the severity of the impact of the car crash and the severe ongoing pain should alert the GP to the possibility of the neck fracture.

Examination Of The Patient

If the doctor fails to carry out all of the necessary symptoms that are indicated as required by the findings from the patient's history, this again might lead to a negligence claim if the failure to correctly diagnose the problem through inadequate examination leads to complications for the patient.

Performing And Acting On Investigations

If during the history and examination stages the GP is alerted to potential problems but fails to act on them, once again this provide the bases for a medical negligence claim.

This could include a patient complaining of pain and severe weight loss after a foreign holiday. The doctor might dismiss the patient as having a holiday bug, when in fact she might have TB and an abscess.

Failure To Diagnose

If the doctor does not diagnose the real cause of the problem, or incorrectly diagnoses the cause of the patient's symptoms, he might go on to provide incorrect treatment or medicine.

Examples might include a young boy presenting with severe pain in the lower right groin and sickness. The diagnosis might include any number of problems including gastroenteritis, but if the doctor fails to examine the external genitalia following a report of these symptoms, he cannot rule out torsion of the testes which is a common problem amongst young boys. If the failure to diagnosis leads to increased pain and complications this might lead to a medical negligence claim.

Negligent Management Of The Problem

If the GP fails to provide the correct medication based on the diagnosis, or prescribes the wrong medication, or medication that the patient is allergic to, this negligent management can lead to a claim for medical negligence.

Summary

There are many aspects of a GP's intervention that can lead to mistakes and possible medical negligence claims. If you believe that your GP has been negligent you should seek advice from Medical Negligence No Win No Fee solicitors who will be able to explain your options.

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See our GP Negligence section.

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