Often if you are in hospital you will have scans or x-rays taken. These will usually be interpreted by radiologists, who are specialists in that area of medicine. Occasionally they are reported upon by the clinical staff without being sent for a formal report by the radiologist. In those circumstances mistakes can go undetected which would otherwise have been picked up at the time of formal reporting.

The results of a scan or x-ray are usually of key importance to a patient's treatment. If the results are misinterpreted then it can lead to serious problems and complications. For example fractures can be missed on an x-ray or loss of position of the fragments not detected. It is often the case then that when the patient returns to hospital, the opportunity to repair the fracture in a straightforward way has been lost, meaning the patient will require more extensive surgery to repair the fracture, possibly also with further corrective procedures which otherwise would not have been needed. Similarly, if scans are misinterpreted, conditions such as tumours can be missed, meaning that the patient's prognosis will be much worse when the tumour is eventually diagnosed.

Contact the Clinical Negligence team

Telephone us on 0844 620 6200
Email us at blclaims@bllaw.co.uk