Cardiology Claims

If you are a victim of medical or clinical negligence our highly experienced team of solicitors at Lanyon Bowdler can assist you in the event you wish to complain or seek compensation. For legal advice on making a cardiology clinical negligence claim please contact Paula Nash, Head of Clinical Negligence or one of her team on 0800 954 9936.

Cardiology consists of 20 per cent of all acute medicine. All doctors, in whatever specialty, are involved in cardiology and it has become an area of litigation which has dramatically increased in recent years.

Not every death or injury which occurs in conjunction with medical care is the result of medical negligence. Most medical providers are competent, dedicated, and committed professionals. However, negligence in our hospitals and by GP's does occur in the area of cardiology.

The consequences of failing to treat and diagnose a heart condition can be devastating resulting in a heart attack, severe heart damage or even death, often because the patient did not receive timely treatment for the heart problem.

The Consultant Cardiologist is a doctor who specialises in cardiac or heart problems. While most cardiologists are trained in all aspects of cardiology, areas of special expertise can include:

Cardiac catheterisation and coronary angiography
Interventional procedures including angioplasty and artherectomy
Echocardiography
Nuclear cardiology
Electrophysiology (diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias)
Exercise testing and cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiologists generally treat and manage the following medical conditions:

• Heart attack
• Myocardial infarction
• Ischaemic heart disease
• Angina
• Heart failure
• Heart rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation
• Heart block
• Ectopic beats.

Negligent Cardiology Treatment

Examples of clinical areas where some cardiologists have failed in their duty of care and provided negligent cardiology treatment include:

• Sometimes the appropriate diagnostic tests are not conducted in the first place when the patient first complains of chest pain
• Failure to diagnose angina when the patient first presents with chest pain
• Failure to warn a patient of the dangers of cardiac catheterisation
• Failure by a GP to diagnose a heart murmur, leading to negligence as the GP failed to arrange follow up investigations for the patient's abnormal heart rhythm
• The management of patients who have had a heart attack, suffer from angina or heart failure or suffer from long-term ischaemic heart disease, cardiac catheterisation or pacemaker insertion
• Failure by a GP to recognise an infected haematoma following a routine angiogram
• A person has had chest pain and has been referred by his GP or hospital trust for that problem.
• Sometimes an ECG (electrical tracing of the heart) is taken, which clearly shows a heart problem, but the condition is diagnosed as something else such as a stomach problem, or reflux, etc

Cardiology compensation claims are not just limited to negligence by a Consultant Cardiologist. If your general practitioner, other specialist or hospital has provided negligent treatment to you, and if this has resulted in 'damage', or you are concerned about the level of care you received relating to cardiology, a heart problem or heart attack, then you may be entitled to compensation. The amount of compensation that may be awarded to you will depend on many variables to include the severity of your injuries, disabilities and the impact on your needs now and in the future.