GP Negligence Claims

GP negligence reveals itself in many different ways given the broad scope of work that falls under their duty. 

Some common GP negligence claims revolve around situations like these:

This list is not exhaustive, and you may have experienced another form of GP negligence that can warrant a claim. 

If you want advice on whether your situation constitutes GP negligence, contact Sinnott Solicitors today for expert legal guidance.

If a GP recognises symptoms in their patient but fails to pursue the correct treatment course for those symptoms, it may end up delaying the provision of proper care. 

This can lead to a patient’s health deteriorating and potentially severe, long-term damage.

Misdiagnosis is a very common form of medical negligence and can be catastrophic for patients if not quickly rectified. 

If a patient is not correctly diagnosed, they can either receive the wrong medication, or no treatment at all, for their injury or illness.

A major part of a GP’s work is referring patients to the correct specialists for further treatment on more serious ailments. 

If a GP fails to do this, a patient may not receive adequate care for a long period of time, with potentially major consequences for their long-term health.

GPs are responsible for deciding if and when a home visit is necessary for treating a patient, and they will only make a home visit if they deem the situation urgent. 

A failure to perform a home visit when it is required, however, can constitute GP negligence.

Naturally, if test results indicate further treatment is required, a GP must act accordingly and implement the right course of care. 

A failure to do this can cause huge damage to a patient’s condition, be it through a GP implementing the wrong treatment course or no treatment whatsoever.

Medical records are hugely important in monitoring the development of a patient’s health over a prolonged period. 

A GP must keep records of their patients and ensure that those documents remain secure and private.

Occasionally, through carelessness or incompetence, prescriptions can be inaccurate or poorly written, leading to a patient receiving the wrong medication. 

This can lead to the patient’s ailment going untreated, and their health potentially worsening as a result of other medication having a negative impact.

It is a GP’s responsibility to accurately and comprehensively inform a patient of the results of any medical tests they undergo. 

If your GP fails to let you know about an issue that arose during tests, and that issue later goes on to impact your health, their actions may have been negligent.

If a patient is prescribed medication that, for instance, contains properties of a substance to which they are known to be allergic, a GP may be responsible for their condition suffering as a result.

GPs must be careful to warn patients of any medication that may impact allergies or any side effects that could come with their course of treatment.   

Since 1984, the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has been responsible for setting the standards of practice patients can come to expect from their GPs. 

Alongside the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the ICGP ensure that Ireland boasts a high standard of healthcare and provide clarity on what level is required among practitioners.

If the ICGQ’s guidelines are breached and impact a patient’s condition, GP negligence may have occurred.

In certain cases, it can happen that patients share some of the burden for their injury, illness or disease with the negligent GP in question.  

Contributory negligence occurs when a wronged party is seen to have contributed to their own accident, injury or illness by acting negligently themselves. 

For example, in a case of a misdiagnosis, a patient may fail to attend a follow-up appointment recommended by their GP.

While the GP’s actions were still negligent, the patient’s behaviour also contributed to them not receiving proper treatment in a timely manner.

Compensation in all cases of medical negligence is impacted by factors like your age, occupation, health and the severity of the injury or illness you suffer.

Damages you receive are usually divided into two categories.

General damages cover the non-financial losses you suffer as a result of your injury or illness, including the pain and suffering associated with the incident itself and any mental or physical impact on you moving forward.

Special damages cover the expenses you incur as a result of your accident, injury or illness, such a loss of earnings from time spent out of work or the medical bills you rack up in order to recover physically and mentally.

If you have been the victim of GP negligence, following these steps may give you the best chance of securing appropriate compensation for your accident, injury or illness.

If you have suffered an accident, injury or illness because of GP negligence, our team at Sinnott Medical Negligence Solicitors are here to help. 

If you have any queries in relation to a GP negligence claim, please contact Sinnott Solicitors at 014062962 or email your query to info@sinnott.ie.