GP negligence solicitor: what they do and how a claim works
Published 7 May 2026
TL;DR
- A GP negligence solicitor is a clinical negligence specialist who handles claims arising from failures in general practice: missed diagnoses, failure to refer, prescription errors, and inadequate examination
- GP claims are brought against the practice and the individual practitioner, not against the NHS trust; medical defence organisations (MDOs) typically handle the defence
- A GP negligence solicitor will obtain records, instruct an independent GP expert, send a Letter of Claim, and negotiate settlement or issue proceedings
- Most GP negligence solicitors work on a conditional fee basis: no legal fees if the claim does not succeed
- The time limit is three years from the negligent act or from the date of knowledge
A GP negligence solicitor is a clinical negligence lawyer who specialises in claims arising from failures in general practice. GP negligence is one of the most common categories of clinical negligence claim in the UK, covering failures to diagnose, failures to refer, prescription errors, and inadequate examination or follow-up. Because GP practices are independent contractors to the NHS rather than NHS employees, the claims process differs in important respects from claims against NHS trusts.
What does a GP negligence solicitor do?
A GP negligence solicitor assesses whether the general practitioner's conduct fell below the standard required by the Bolam test and whether that breach caused the patient harm. The solicitor's role covers the full claim lifecycle.
Case assessment: the solicitor reviews the patient's GP records, hospital records, and any correspondence, and advises on whether the facts disclose a potential claim. This assessment considers both breach (was the GP's conduct below the standard of a responsible body of GPs?) and causation (did that breach cause harm that would not otherwise have occurred?).
Expert instruction: the solicitor instructs an independent GP expert who was not involved in the treatment and has no connection with the defendant practice. The expert reviews the records and produces a report on whether the standard of care was met. In claims involving delayed diagnosis of a serious condition, specialist experts (oncologists, cardiologists, neurologists) may also be required to address causation.
Pre-action protocol: the solicitor follows the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes. This involves obtaining records, securing expert evidence, and sending a Letter of Claim to the defendant GP practice setting out the specific failures alleged and the harm caused.
Negotiation and settlement: most GP negligence claims settle without court proceedings. The solicitor negotiates with the MDO on quantum (the value of the claim) once liability has been admitted or established.
Who defends a GP negligence solicitor claim?
GP negligence claims are not handled by NHS Resolution. GP practices are independent contractors to the NHS; their practitioners are typically members of a medical defence organisation (MDO) such as the Medical Defence Union (MDU), the Medical Protection Society (MPS), or the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS).
When a GP negligence solicitor sends a Letter of Claim, it is the MDO that instructs defence lawyers and manages the claim on behalf of the GP and the practice. The MDO may admit liability in whole or in part, deny liability, or request further information.
The claim is brought against the GP practice as an entity and, in appropriate cases, against the individual practitioner. In some cases, there may be additional claims against the practice as a business (for example, where a locum GP caused the harm and the practice is vicariously responsible for that locum's conduct).
What types of GP negligence does a solicitor handle?
Failure to diagnose: the most frequent category. A GP who fails to identify a condition that a responsible GP would have diagnosed (through inadequate examination, failure to investigate, or misinterpretation of symptoms) may be in breach. Common examples include missed cancer diagnoses, missed cardiac presentations, and failure to recognise the signs of meningitis.
Failure to refer: GPs act as gatekeepers to specialist care. A failure to refer a patient whose clinical picture required specialist assessment, or a failure to refer urgently when urgent referral was indicated, is a recognised category of breach. For common examples and compensation ranges, see the GP negligence compensation guide.
Prescription errors: GPs prescribe high-risk medications including warfarin, methotrexate, lithium, and opioids. Errors in dosing, failure to check interactions, failure to arrange monitoring, and prescribing contraindicated medications are all potential bases for a claim.
Failure to act on test results: a GP who receives abnormal blood results or imaging reports and fails to act on them, or fails to communicate the results to the patient, may be in breach. The duty to follow up abnormal results is well established.
Inadequate examination: a GP who carries out an inadequate examination and as a result misses a finding that a thorough examination would have revealed may be in breach. The adequacy of the examination is assessed against what a responsible GP in the same circumstances would have done.
For an overview of misdiagnosis and how cases are proved, see the misdiagnosis claim guide.
Funding a GP negligence claim
Most GP negligence solicitors act under a conditional fee agreement (CFA), commonly known as a no win no fee arrangement. Under a CFA, the solicitor charges no fee if the claim does not succeed. If the claim succeeds, the solicitor charges a success fee (capped at 25% of general damages and past special damages). After-the-event (ATE) insurance is typically taken out at the start of the claim to cover the cost of the defendant's legal fees if the claim fails.
Legal aid is not generally available for clinical negligence claims. Some claimants instruct solicitors on a private fee basis, but the conditional fee model is the standard funding mechanism. For a full explanation of how funding works, see the funding guide.
Time limits and how to start
The time limit is three years from the date of the negligent act or from the date of knowledge. In GP negligence cases involving missed diagnoses, the date of knowledge is often the date the claimant first learned that the condition had been present for longer than they were told, or that an earlier diagnosis would have been possible.
A GP negligence solicitor will advise on the date of knowledge as part of the initial case assessment. Time limits in clinical negligence are strictly applied and early legal advice is important. For the full limitation rules, see the time limits guide. For the full claims process, see the how to claim guide.
This page provides legal information, not legal advice. If you believe a GP's failure to diagnose, refer, or treat caused you harm, speak to a qualified GP negligence solicitor who specialises in clinical negligence.