Medical Negligence claim against GP

[amnidyaa]

Aibu to think I have grounds for a claim?

In March 2023 I had an operation on my spine for Cauda equina syndrome. After the operation the spinal specialist sent a letter to me and mh GP saying there is a 5cm growth on my ovary and they recommend a follow up with a Gynecologist and another scan. I went to see my GP and enquired about getting the growth looked at by gynaecology. The GP refused and said people have growths all the time and its nothing to worry about and she said she will not be ordering a follow up.
Then 1 year later in March 2024 I had pain and went to A&E and they did a scan and found the growth was now 10cm and had spread all over the pelvic region. I ended up having to have a hysterectomy within 2 weeks and I had to lose both my ovaries and uterus because the growth had spread. I am now in menopause at the age of 39 and unable to have children all because my GP didnt follow up on the growth before it spread.

Would it brlw unreasonable to think I have a claim?

Sadly it seems the op's GP is a woman - who really should have been more on the ball and followed up.

Sorry to hear your sad story OP - hope you get some explanation of what went wrong.

It absolutely does seem like you have a case, and I'm so sorry this happened to you.

I made a medical negligence claim against the NHS, it's a lengthy process (6 years for me). You need to make the claim within 3 years, but it's possible that deadlines could be extended and then extended again. So as a previous poster recommended, it's definitely best to try and move on in the meantime. For me the case has just ticked along in the background, frustratingly slowly.

A successful claim will not make you feel better about what has happened to you. But it will help with some of the longer term side effects and unknowns that now face you.

Why on earth didn't the hospital doctor make a direct referral to a colleague, for the result they had discovered? Dumping it on the GP just made it more likely to be missed. Yes, it would have been good if the GP had picked up the pieces, but they shouldn't have had to. It's the responsibility of the person ordering the tests to act on the result.

CoI I have experience of this both as the hospital consultant making my own onwards referrals, and also as a patient when my respiratory consultant picked up a possible thyroid tumour on CT chest, and correctly referred me on to the surgeons without faffing about with the GP.

I had to have an ultrasound for lymph nodes in my groin. The ultrasound tech did my abdomen whilst I was there and found ovarian cysts. My Gp referred me to gynae and it was a 16 month wait. The big cyst burst whilst I was waiting to be seen and I ended up in hospital for 3 days. I’m not sure a referal would have made a difference OP but it definitely should have been done!

The solicitor did ask for the details of the GP and the hospital specialist so maybe their expert will look at all the details and see where the balls been dropped.
For me its more that I went back to the GP and even brought up my history and she dismissed me. And I wonder how many other women she might have dismissed that have had bad outcomes too.

I think its fair to say that the surgeon could have potentially referred to gyne independently. However the GP didn't miss the information, they assessed it and deemed it non necessary. The patient has also presented multiple times with pain in that area and none of this warrants a scan and now she has had devastating consequences.

@Londonrach1 have you been through it? I posted a q about this and a number of people said it had been less stressful than they thought it would be. Keen to hear both sides of the argument before I make a decision. Thank you!

@MatildaTheCat do you regret doing it? My concern is it will be shadow hanging over me for years. I've been advised I have a case but can't decide if best to try and put it behind me or push ahead. I saw above one case took 6 years, it's a long time to have that kind of stress. Thank you.

@Blackcats7 do you mind my asking how the process was for you please? Did you find it ok? Thank you x

@kiwiane why was it stressful please? Trying to weigh up what to do and want to hear all sides of the story so I don't go in blind...

The surgeon identified the growth and is equally as capable to refer to their colleague. In fact, it could be argued that they identified it and therefore it was there responsibility.
The GP should have acted on the referral, but equally i have seen 100s of GP referrals turned down in this scenario as they didn’t identity the issue and it was on the surgeon who identified it to do a proper referral.

im really sorry this happened to you, but please make sure the above is considered in your action.

The claim must be filed within three years of your date of knowledge of the failure.

Typical in that someone has identified an issue during their investigations (consultant) who then failed to deal with it and binned it off on the GP to 'consider' a referral. The GP considered it and didn't feel it was an issue. Did the GP have all relevant info??

I'm sorry that this has happened to you, but I would say that the spinal surgeon is just as negligent as your GP - The GMC are very clear that it is the responsibility of the requestor of a test to follow up and act upon the results. In some areas referrals for different problems do go back to the GP (I'm never sure why - I think this is wrong as it just increases the potential for things to get missed and piles even more work onto an already overloaded system), That isn't the case for a potential malignancy.

Also, where I work, copies of "red flag" imaging reports automatically get sent to cancer services who will follow it up and make sure that this is acted upon - so I'm not sure why that didn't happen in your case? It's a safety mechanism because sometimes these things do get missed or referrals go missing etc

Thank you. Personally sick to death of doing 3rd hand referrals for a person I've never seen on the basis of a 2 line letter and no access to original scan reports.
The original clinician should have dealt with the issue.

So sorry to hear this, OP
Family member had consultant to consultant referral about 18 months ago
Seen fairly quickly too; further scans/tests done with no hassle
Good luck OP

I am still going through it and so can’t say fully as yet but I know from other experiences there will be victim blaming and mud slinging to come, there always is in any attempt to hold an organisation to account.
I am prepared for it though.
I am now seeing expert witness gp/ consultants to prepare reports. The whole process will probably take years but there is always the hope that we can come to agreement out of court. If there is no agreement possible I am ready to follow it through.

I think a question you need to ask is of the surgeon who effectively made you infertile. Was that absolutely required for a 10cm growth? I had a 6cm growth and kept all organs.

Thanks @Blackcats7 - has it been easy to put it into the background thus far or does it take up a lot of your thoughts? Yep the victim-blaming/mud-slinging I would expect but dread. x

Get on to a solicitor! Negligence! GP's are useless!

I'm currently 3 years into this, please check your house insurance - I initially went with the union solicitor but my legal cover covered a different one. Expect it to take years and years.

Check your house insurance, hopefully you have legal protection cover which you can use to fight this.
Do not settle too early - as you perhaps don't know the full consequences of your GP inaction.

It doesn't occupy my thoughts that much but tbh I have a lot worse things going on.
Knowing it is a slow process with no guarantee of the outcome I just let it all tick along and simply do whatever I need to when the solicitor asks.
Completing my witness statement was quite upsetting though as it makes you think about it all in detail all over again.

@Blackcats7 see I'm actually writing my witness statement now before I bring the claim just to see how it makes me feel - if that makes sense! I really appreciate your help and hope you have a good outcome - keeping everything crossed for you!

I'm sorry you're going through this OP. Good luck with the claim as yes, I tend to think that women so often just dismissed when it's something which really really should be followed up. It certainly sounds like it from what you've posted.