By Cat Grayson. Last Updated 13th July 2023. This guide will look at how to claim compensation for a wrist fracture that was missed due to medical negligence. A wrist fracture injury can be painful and make it harder to carry out everyday tasks. If you suffer a wrist fracture, getting the correct treatment at the right time is important to make a full and speedy recovery. However, if doctors fail to diagnose and treat a wrist fracture, the patient could suffer further injuries.
If medics missed your wrist fracture on an X-ray or doctors negligently misdiagnosed your fracture, you may be eligible to claim medical negligence compensation. Please contact us to see if you can claim compensation.
Wrist Fracture Missed – Medical Negligence Claims Guide
We work with a panel of skilled clinical negligence solicitors. So a lawyer from our panel can start working on your case if there is adequate evidence to prove medical negligence.
For free legal advice and to see if you can claim, please get in touch with our team today:
- Call 0161 696 9685
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Select A Section
- What Is A Fractured Wrist?
- Why May A Wrist Fracture Be Missed?
- How Could A Missed Wrist Fracture Affect You?
- How Long After A Missed Diagnosis Can You Claim?
- Evidence For A Missed Wrist Fracture Claim
- Estimating Payouts For Missed Fracture Injuries
- Get Advice On No Win No Fee Claims If Your Wrist Fracture Was Missed
What Is A Fractured Wrist?
A fractured wrist is an injury where a bone in the wrist becomes cracked or broken. Patients with fractured wrist injuries will need a doctor to diagnose and treat their injury, as soon as possible. If the fracture is missed, the patient could suffer avoidable pain or develop complications.
Sometimes medics misdiagnose or miss a fracture because of medical negligence. All medical professionals must provide their patients with a minimum standard of care. This is known as a duty of care. Medical negligence happens if a medical professional provides substandard patient care, which breaches the duty of care.
Please get in touch with us promptly to see if you can claim compensation for a missed or misdiagnosed wrist fracture.
Why May A Wrist Fracture Be Missed?
When a patient suffers a wrist fracture, they may go to a GP surgery or the nearest accident and emergency department to have the injury assessed.
A broken wrist injury can have similar symptoms to a bad sprain, so doctors may need to perform diagnostic tests such as x-rays to confirm that a patient has a fractured bone.
Below we look at ways a fracture could be missed:
- Failure to perform the correct diagnostic tests on a patient with the symptoms of a fractured or broken wrist
- Failure to listen to the patient’s symptoms
- The patient’s notes are mixed up with another patient, giving the wrong diagnosis.
Call our advisors for free legal advice to determine if you can make a medical negligence claim following a missed wrist fracture.
How Could A Missed Wrist Fracture Affect You?
If a medical professional misses a fracture in the wrist, a patient may experience unnecessary pain and suffering until they receive the correct treatment for their wrist fracture injuries. A fractured wrist injury can make it harder to carry out everyday tasks such as washing, dressing or working with your hands.
If a broken or fractured wrist goes untreated, a patient could also experience the following complications:
- The patient can develop osteoarthritis, which causes pain and reduced mobility.
- Osteomyelitis: A bone infection which can cause permanent damage if not treated promptly.
- Compartment syndrome is bleeding and swelling within an affected group of muscles.
- Avascular necrosis reduces blood supply to the bones, resulting in the death of bone tissue.
- Fat embolism: A fat embolism can be life-threatening if blood is blocked off to a vital organ.
How Long After A Missed Diagnosis Can You Claim?
To claim medical negligence compensation, you or your legal representative must provide evidence to prove the following. First, the medics that treated you owed you a duty of care. Secondly, the medics acted negligently and breached their duty of care. And the negligence meant the practitioners missed your fracture. And this medical negligence harmed you.
To begin a claim, you must be within the time limit. Under the Limitation Act 1980, the limitation period to begin a claim for clinical negligence is three years. The time limit will normally begin on the date of knowledge, which is the date you realise medical negligence occurred.
Evidence For A Missed Wrist Fracture Claim
An important part of making a medical negligence claim for compensation for the misdiagnosis of a fracture is collecting evidence. Evidence helps strengthen your claim by illustrating how severe the harm you suffered is, how the negligence occurred, and who is responsible for the misdiagnosis.
Some examples of evidence that you could use to support a claim for fracture misdiagnosis include:
- X-Ray or scan results: An X-ray or a scan that clearly shows the fracture could be used to support a claim for a misdiagnosis.
- Medical records: Your medical records and other relevant medical documents may also contain information about your injury and treatment.
- Witness statements: Keeping the contact details of witnesses, such as a friend or partner who attended your appointment with you, means that their statements can be taken by a professional at a later date.
- Symptoms diary: A symptoms diary tracks how your fracture affects your day-to-day life, and can help illustrate the level of pain you were in as a result of the misdiagnosis.
One of the many benefits of working with a solicitor on your claim is that they can help you gather this evidence. To find out how a solicitor from our panel could help you, contact our team today.
Estimating Payouts For Missed Fracture Injuries
If your wrist fracture was missed and this harmed you, you could potentially receive up to two types of compensation payments:
- Firstly, you can receive a general damage payout for the physical and psychological injuries suffered, and their negative impact on your quality of life.
- Secondly, you can receive a special damage payout. The payment reimburses you for the financial losses your injuries caused.
We have created a compensation table using the 16th-edition guidelines from the Judicial College. Solicitors often refer to the guidelines when they value a general damage payment. But, your compensation payment may differ from the compensation brackets.
| Degree Of Wrist Injury | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wrist Injury (a) | An injury severe enough to lead to the total loss of wrist function. | £47,620 to £59,860 |
| Wrist Injury (b) | A wrist injury which leaves the person with a permanent significant disability. | £24,500 to £39,170 |
| Wrist Injury (c) | Less severe injuries to the wrist which leaves the person with some permanent level of disability. | £12,590 to £24,500 |
| Wrist Injury (d) | A fractured wrist which takes more than a year to recover from. The recovery should be either complete or largely complete. | £6,080 to £10,350 |
| Wrist Injury (e) | An uncomplicated Colles’ fracture. | Around £7,430 |
| Wrist Injury (f) | Minor or undisplaced fractures as well as soft tissue injuries. A full recovery is made in a year or so. | £3,530 to £4,740 |
The table does not include special damages. For a valuation which reflects your circumstances, please call our helpline to speak with an advisor.
Could You Receive Special Damages?
Sometimes your compensation package will include special damages. If circumstances classed as medical negligence injure you, you might experience many costs. So if you make a successful claim, the payment can reimburse you for the losses and future losses. Here are some special damage examples you could claim:
- Medical expenses
- Travel costs, including the cost of taxis if you are temporarily unable to drive, or hospital parking
- Care costs
- Loss of earnings reimbursement
- Mobility equipment and home adaptation costs if your injuries cause a permanent disability
Get Advice On No Win No Fee Claims If Your Wrist Fracture Was Missed
Please get in touch with us if you would like to claim compensation for a missed wrist fracture. Our advisors can speak to you about the incident, and if we can see that you are eligible for compensation, we can provide you with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel to work on your claim.
When you claim compensation using a No Win No Fee solicitor, you benefit from not paying an upfront solicitors fee. Instead, you agree to pay a success fee from your compensation package if you win your claim. The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 states that the fee is legally capped. So most of your compensation payment will go to you.
Please get in touch with us to enquire about receiving compensation for injuries caused by a missed fracture.
Enquire today:
- Call the helpline on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us via our claims form
- Or type a question into our Live Support widget
How Our Team Could Help You
If you want to claim compensation for clinical negligence, these guides might be helpful.
Advice On Making A Blood Transfusion Negligence Claim
Suing The NHS For Medical Negligence – How Do I Make My Claim?
When Could You Claim For A Medication Error?
How do I know if I’ve broken a bone? – an NHS guide
An NHS guide to first aid, including what to do if you suffer a fracture injury
Instructions from the General Medical Council on how to raise concerns about a doctor’s conduct
We hope this guide on what to do if your wrist fracture was missed is helpful.