A medical professional treating you owes you a duty of care to prevent harm being suffered by you.

There are many different mistakes that may be made, which could lead to a “breach of duty of care” by a medical professional. To prove that negligence has occurred, it would need to be shown that the breach of duty of care caused you harm, that was otherwise avoidable.

Cases often involve a patient seeing their GP because they are worried about their symptoms, but the GP then fails to recognise that their symptom or collective symptoms are indicative of cancer, and an onward referral to an appropriate specialist is not made. This can lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Early diagnosis can prevent the cancer spreading and causing these devastating outcomes. Symptoms of breast cancer that all doctors should be aware of are: new lump in the breast or underarm, thickening or swelling of part of the breast, irritation or dimpling of breast skin, redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast, pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area, nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood, any change in the size or the shape of the breast, pain in any area of the breast.

The types of claims that we often help with are:

• Failures by GPs to refer to a specialist despite cancer signs and symptoms;
• Failure by hospitals to perform the correct tests;
• Failures by hospitals to diagnose and treat despite sign, symptoms and test results;
• Failures by hospitals to properly report scans or test results;
• Failure by hospital to provide correct treatment or perform surgery appropriately.

If you suspect that you have symptoms of breast cancer, you should see you GP. If the GP is concerned, you should be referred to the appropriate specialist, and seen within two weeks.