Hours in the waiting room and a missed diagnosis: when emergency department care falls short

Delays in the ED or a misdiagnosis when you’re in an emergency can have lifelong impacts: 

In 2023, a 17 year-old Canberran was awarded $7 million in compensation after a misdiagnosis at Canberra Hospital left them with lifelong disability. Have you or someone you know had long-term effects from negligence in an emergency room? 

Across Australia, one in ten hospital admissions involves an adverse event and emergency departments are where some of the most serious diagnostic failures occur. In the ACT alone, last year 927 people made formal complaints about their healthcare to the ACT Human Rights Commission. Behind each of those numbers is a person who trusted the system and was let down by it.

If that person is you, here’s what you need to know.

What are emergency departments supposed to do?

Emergency departments exist to assess and treat people who need urgent medical attention. When you arrive, staff are required to triage you, assessing how serious your condition is and ensuring you’re seen within an appropriate timeframe.

That process isn’t perfect, and emergency departments are under enormous pressure. But pressure doesn’t remove the legal obligation to provide a reasonable standard of care. When that standard isn’t met and someone is harmed as a result, it may give rise to a medical negligence claim.

What does a missed diagnosis actually look like?

A missed diagnosis isn’t always a dramatic error. It can be more subtle:

• being triaged as low priority when your symptoms suggested something more serious
• a doctor who spent three minutes with you before sending you home with painkillers
• a test that wasn’t ordered, or a specialist who wasn’t called
• warning signs that were noted in your records but never acted on
• discharge without seeing a doctor, when your symptoms warranted medical review

Conditions most commonly missed in emergency departments include heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, appendicitis, sepsis, spinal injuries and serious infections, all situations where hours, and sometimes minutes, genuinely change outcomes.

What about Canberra’s hospitals specifically?

Most Canberrans presenting to an emergency department will attend Canberra Hospital in Garran or North Canberra Hospital in Bruce. Both operate under ACT Health and are subject to the same duty of care obligations as any other Australian hospital.

If you received emergency care at either facility and believe something was missed or mishandled, the same legal principles apply. Medical negligence claims in the ACT are governed by the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002, and time limits apply, so it’s important to seek advice promptly.

Does a long wait automatically mean negligence?

No, and it’s important to be clear about this. A long wait alone doesn’t establish negligence. Sometimes, in a busy hospital waiting room, a long wait is reasonable and does not cause a difference to your outcome.  The real question is whether the care you received met the standard expected of a competent medical professional in those circumstances, and whether any unreasonable delay caused further damage.

If you were properly assessed, monitored appropriately, and a decision was made based on reasonable clinical judgement, that may not constitute negligence, even if the outcome wasn’t what you hoped.

But if your symptoms were dismissed without proper investigation, warning signs were ignored, or you were sent home when any reasonable doctor would have kept you in, that’s a different matter entirely.

What if I was sent home and got worse?

This is one of the most common situations we hear about. Someone presents to an ED feeling unwell, is briefly assessed, and sent home. Hours or days later, their condition has significantly deteriorated.

If that deterioration was caused or worsened by a failure to properly diagnose or treat you, you may have grounds for a claim. The key question is whether the harm you suffered could have been avoided with appropriate care at the time.

What about the effect on my life?

A missed diagnosis doesn’t just affect your health in the short term. In a medical negligence claim, compensation can cover:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost income or reduced earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Ongoing care costs if your injuries require long-term support

What should you do if ED care let you down?

• Request your medical records from the hospital. You’re entitled to them under the Privacy Act 1988
• See your GP or a specialist to document your current condition
• Get legal advice early, as time limits apply to medical negligence claims in the ACT

We’re here to help

At Maliganis Edwards Johnson, we understand how confusing and upsetting it can be to feel let down by the medical system, especially when you were already scared and vulnerable. Our experienced medical negligence team offers free, confidential consultations, no legal jargon, just a clear conversation about what happened and what your options are.

Contact us today or call 1800 570 778.