GP Claims

GP negligence claims in Canberra

Your GP is often your first point of contact when something’s wrong with your health. You trust them to listen, assess, and provide the right advice or treatment. But what happens when your GP makes a mistake that causes you harm?

At MEJ, our GP negligence lawyers understand that it can feel uncomfortable, even wrong, to question your family doctor. But when a GP’s error causes injury, worsens your condition, or changes the course of your health, you have every right to seek accountability and compensation.

For over 40 years, we’ve been helping people across Canberra and the ACT navigate GP negligence claims with compassion, expertise, and results.

What is GP negligence?

GP negligence occurs when your general practitioner fails to provide care that meets the accepted standard for a reasonable GP in the same circumstances. This failure must cause you harm or injury that wouldn’t have occurred with appropriate care.

GPs have complex, demanding roles. They see a wide variety of conditions, make quick assessments, and must know when to refer patients to specialists. While mistakes can happen, some errors are preventable and constitute negligence.

Common examples of GP negligence include:

• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose serious conditions
• Delayed diagnosis allowing a condition to worsen
• Failure to refer you to a specialist when required
• Prescribing incorrect medication or dosages
• Failing to consider your medical history or allergies
• Not ordering appropriate tests or investigations
• Misinterpreting test results or failing to follow up
• Providing incorrect or inadequate medical advice
• Inadequate examination or assessment
• Dismissing serious symptoms or concerns

If your GP’s error caused you additional harm, injury, or allowed your condition to deteriorate, you may have grounds for a compensation claim.

How GP negligence happens

General practitioners face heavy workloads, time pressures, and see hundreds of patients with varied complaints. While this doesn’t excuse negligence, it helps explain how errors can occur:

• Diagnostic failures are among the most common GP errors. These might involve failing to recognise symptoms of serious conditions like cancer, heart disease, or infections; dismissing patient concerns without proper investigation; or misdiagnosing based on incomplete assessments.
• Prescribing errors can occur when GPs prescribe incorrect medications, fail to check for drug interactions or allergies, continue medications that should be stopped, or provide inadequate instructions about how to take medicines.
• Referral failures happen when GPs don’t refer patients to specialists when the condition requires expert assessment, delay referrals while conditions worsen, or fail to communicate urgency to specialists.
• Testing and follow-up failures include not ordering necessary tests, failing to follow up on abnormal results, or not explaining test results properly to patients.
• Communication failures can involve inadequate explanation of risks and treatment options, failure to obtain proper informed consent, or dismissing patient concerns without proper consideration.

These errors can happen at any GP clinic across Canberra, Queanbeyan, and throughout the ACT region. When they cause harm, patients deserve justice.

The impact of GP negligence

The consequences of GP errors can be severe and far-reaching:

• Delayed cancer diagnosis allowing disease progression
• Preventable heart attacks or strokes
• Chronic conditions becoming permanent due to delayed treatment
• Medication injuries or adverse drug reactions
• Unnecessary suffering and pain
• Additional medical treatment and surgeries
• Lost income and reduced earning capacity
• Psychological distress and loss of trust in healthcare
• In tragic cases, wrongful death

GP negligence often feels particularly personal because of the trusted relationship between patient and family doctor. When that trust is broken, the emotional impact can be profound.

Medical negligence claims against GPs require careful investigation and expert medical evidence to establish that the standard of care fell below what was reasonable.
How we can help

Our Canberra-based GP negligence lawyers have extensive experience investigating family doctor errors and pursuing compensation for harmed patients. We understand the medical standards expected of GPs and work with expert general practitioners and specialists to review your case.

At MEJ, we work to secure compensation for:

• Pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life
• Medical expenses, both past and future
• Loss of income and reduced earning capacity
• Rehabilitation and therapy costs
• Psychological counselling and support
• Additional care needs
• Out-of-pocket expenses

We handle every case with discretion and empathy. We know that pursuing a claim against your GP can feel difficult, but when serious harm has occurred, seeking compensation is both your right and an important step towards accountability in healthcare.

 

 

Do I need a GP negligence lawyer?

GP negligence claims require proving that your doctor’s care fell below the accepted standard and that this directly caused you harm. This involves complex medical evidence, expert opinions from other GPs or specialists, and detailed knowledge of clinical guidelines.

Having an experienced GP negligence lawyer ensures:

• Thorough review of your medical records to identify potential breaches of care
• Access to independent GP experts who can provide professional opinions
• Proper preparation and presentation of your claim
• Skilled negotiation with insurers and defendants
• Court representation if settlement can’t be reached

We will enter into a costs agreement with you specific to your case.

Can I really sue my GP?

It’s normal to feel uncomfortable about making a claim against your family doctor. Many people worry about being seen as difficult or ungrateful for healthcare. But here’s what matters: if your GP’s mistake caused you serious harm, you have every right to seek accountability.

It’s important to understand that you’re not personally suing your GP, claims are made against their professional indemnity insurance. GPs are required to carry this insurance precisely because, despite best efforts, errors can happen.

Pursuing a claim doesn’t make you difficult or ungrateful. It makes you someone who recognises that when healthcare falls short and causes harm, there should be accountability and fair compensation.

Time limits for GP negligence claims

Strict time limits apply to medical negligence claims in Australia. You generally must commence legal action within three years of when the injury occurred or when you became aware of it. These laws are complex, particularly in cases involving delayed diagnosis where the timeline may be unclear.

Don’t let time run out on your rights. Contact us early to ensure your claim can proceed without being time-barred.

Why choose MEJ?

For over 40 years, MEJ has been Canberra’s trusted local law firm. We’re not an interstate giant managing cases from afar, we’re your neighbours, deeply connected to the ACT community and its healthcare landscape.

Our team is:

• Highly experienced in GP negligence and medical malpractice claims
• Proven track record with complex medical negligence cases
• Compassionate, understanding, and responsive
• Based right here in Canberra, serving locals throughout the ACT

If you believe your GP’s error caused you harm, you don’t have to face this alone. Our experienced, compassionate Canberra lawyers are here to listen, assess your situation honestly, and help you understand your options.

Call us on 1800 570 778 or (02) 9158 1333

Submit an enquiry online to speak with a GP negligence lawyer in Canberra today.

Taking the first step might feel difficult, but you deserve answers, and if negligence occurred, you deserve compensation.