Bowel Cancer – Are symptoms being missed? Written by Andrea Ribchester-Hodgson Clinical Negligence and Serious Injury Team

As the BBC reports[i] that public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped to a 25-year low with complaints that it takes too long to get a GP appointment or hospital care it is crucial that you know what you can do if you believe you have received substandard medical treatment.

For instance, a failure by your GP to appropriately consider your symptoms can lead to you not being referred for additional investigations. This in turn leads to a delay in reaching a correct diagnosis with a “knock on effect” of failing to begin treatment as quickly as you would have, if diagnosed properly. 

A delay in diagnosis is particularly important in diseases such as cancer,  April 2022 is Bowel Cancer Awareness month and Bowel Cancer is the second biggest UK killer cancer and the 4th most common UK cancer. However, it is known that the disease is treatable and curable especially when diagnosed at an early stage. 

The NHS has put in place guidelines for which symptoms should trigger referral by a GP and how quickly you should be referred, and failing to follow these could constitute negligent medical care. 

Bowel cancer UK[ii] states in its campaign to rebuild cancer services post Covid-19, that even before the pandemic, patients were waiting too long for tests to confirm or rule out a bowel cancer diagnosis. Waiting times have continued to grow and there is a backlog of patients waiting for crucial tests that can diagnose bowel cancer. Since 2019, for instance, the average number of people waiting longer than six weeks for an endoscopy has increased by almost six times. 

In addition to long waiting times, there has also been a reduction in people being referred urgently with symptoms of bowel cancer. This is not because Bowel cancer rates have dropped, rather symptoms are missed, tests put on hold and people are waiting longer to be seen. 

Given the fact that the number of people on a waiting list for hospital treatment rose to a record of nearly 6.1 million in December 2021[iii], it is inevitable that in some cases patients will receive substandard care.  

Healthcare professionals such as GPs and Hospital staff have a duty of care to their patients to provide appropriate medical treatment. If you receive substandard care then it is a breach of that duty. If you suffer an injury or a worsening of your medical problems as a result, then you would have a claim for damages for the pain and suffering you experienced any additional treatment needed as a result, together with a claim for any financial losses sustained.

Every case is different of course and therefore seeking legal advice to consider whether the care you received was appropriate is far more common and easier than most people realise.

Most law firms working in the field of medical negligence will discuss with you what occurred without charge and if they believe there is potentially a basis for a complaint will act for you and request your medical records to determine if these support your position before proceeding further.

Therefore if you believe your symptoms have been missed, you have not been diagnosed appropriately or there have been delays in your treatment it is possible that you may not have been provided with the appropriate standard of medical care and seeking legal advice is something you may wish to consider. 

The Law Society, APIL and AVMA are amongst the organisations that can provide you with the details of law firms such as Clear Law, which undertake these types of cases.   

[i] (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60917585) 

 

[ii] https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/campaigning/covid-19-and-bowel-cancer/

 

[iii]https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7281/?mc_cid=d561c41c58&mc_eid=3f90c05ef0