Figures obtained by Medical Negligence Assist show between 2019 and 2024, there were 8,067 claims regarding misdiagnoses against NHS trusts, with 5,677 of these claims being settled. 

The highest number of claims came in 2019/20, when 1,824 were made. In the latest year of data (2023/24), the number of claims rose slightly to 1,539 from 1,528 in 2022/23.

Gareth Lloyd, medical negligence solicitor for JF Law (which owns the Medical Negligence Assist brand), said: ‘Misdiagnosis is an all-embracing clinical negligence case type and covers a wide range of clinical situations from the simple diagnosis of a fracture to potentially fatal cancer diagnoses. 

‘These cases can be a matter of life and death, and whether someone lives or dies will be determined by the success of the diagnosis.'

The most common outcome for misdiagnosis claims was unnecessary pain, which was lodged 1,005 times, with the trusts paying £45.9m in compensation, followed by fatalities, which saw 470 claims submitted.

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust had the highest compensation costs at over £32m.

Diane Sarkar, chief nursing and quality officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘As one of the largest trusts in the country we serve a population of over 1.2m, which means we will always have more claims than smaller trusts. These claim numbers are proportionate to our size.

‘We do our best to deliver safe, high-quality patient care every day. Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong and when they do we fully investigate and learn from them.'

You can find out more about Medical Negligence Assist's research and statistics here: https://www.medicalnegligenceassist.co.uk