What to Do When You’re Not Happy With Your Doctor’s Diagnosis

On this page:

• Why you might be unhappy with a diagnosis
• Request a second opinion
• Complain about your treatment
• Take legal action

We visit our doctors to get help with medical problems. For most people, this goes smoothly and they find the right treatment for their issue.

But in some cases, you may end up unhappy with your doctor’s diagnosis.

Why you might be unhappy with a diagnosis

You might find yourself unhappy with your doctor for several reasons. These could include:

• Your doctor dismissing your concerns
  When your doctor doesn’t take your concerns seriously, there is the risk that misdiagnosis could occur. This could lead to you being treated with the wrong medication, therefore making the situation even worse.
• Your doctor won’t prescribe certain treatments for you
  If your doctor doesn’t recommend or prescribe a treatment for you – which you know to be the correct treatment – because you have a certain protected characteristic, this could be considered discrimination. This could be based on a disability, sexual orientation or race, for example.
• Your diagnosis has been delayed
  If your condition has worsened because of an unreasonable delay in receiving a diagnosis, you could have grounds to make a medical negligence claim.

So what should you do if you’re not happy with your doctor’s diagnosis?

Request a second opinion

The General Medical Council has said that clinicians “must respect the patient’s right to seek a second medical opinion”.

Although the NHS advises that if you’re not happy with your doctor’s diagnosis, you should ask them directly for an explanation, you shouldn’t feel as though you can’t ask for a second opinion.

You may want to ask another doctor in your surgery about your concern, or even find a new surgery if you’re particularly unhappy with your diagnosis. If you’re not satisfied with a consultant, you’ll need to go back to your GP and ask to be referred to another doctor.

It’s important that you don’t suffer in silence. If you know something isn’t right – and no one knows your body better than you – then you should feel empowered to pursue the correct treatment.

Complain about your treatment

Another important action to take when you’re not happy with a doctor’s diagnosis is to complain. If you were seen by an NHS doctor, you can write a letter of complaint. You can also complain about private healthcare services.

According to the NHS, you can complain to either the service provider directly – such as a GP, dentist surgery or hospital – or to the commissioner of the services, which is the body that pays for the NHS services you use. You’re not able to complain to both.

For complaints about primary care – including GPs, dentists and pharmacists – you should contact the NHS in your constituent county. If you want to complain about a secondary healthcare provider – including hospital care, mental health services, out of hours services and district nursing – you should contact your local integrated care board.

Take legal action

An official complaint will act as evidence if you decide to pursue legal action against the clinician you’re unhappy with. And if you’ve suffered significant health problems as a result of your treatment, legal action may be the most appropriate step.

If you’ve suffered from medical negligence, you could be entitled to compensation that helps you get back on your feet. The time limit for making a claim is three years. This could be from the date the negligence took place or from when you first became aware of it.

Our friendly and compassionate advisors will help you work out if you could have a case for compensation. Just get in touch and we can help you decide what to do next.

To learn more, give us a call, request a call back or start your claim online and we’ll take it from there.