Skin Cancer – Melanoma Claims

Non-melanoma skin cancers are the most common form and tend to be easy to treat and cure. However, there are some types of skin cancer such as malignant melanoma that may spread more rapidly, including to lymph nodes, and can have a devastating impact if there is a delay in diagnosis.

Some ‘red flag’ symptoms for skin cancers include changes to a mole or lump in terms of size, colour, shape, itching and bleeding.

Cancer Research UK states that almost everyone diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma will survive for at least 5 years. If diagnosed at stage 4, this drops to 30% of people. Therefore, delays in diagnosis can have a very serious result.

If there was a failure by a GP or hospital doctor to pick up on signs of skin cancer and make an appropriate referral or provide appropriate advice then there may be a claim for medical negligence, if the cancer spread or became more severe as a result. There might also be a claim if there were errors in the treatment of the cancer, such as a failure to remove all of the cancer during a surgical procedure.

To bring a claim for a delay in diagnosis of skin cancer it will need to be shown that the delay was negligent and that this impacted on the outcome i.e. the cancer was diagnosed at a later stage than it should have been and will require more intensive treatment or that life expectancy has been impacted. Short delays may not be sufficient to show that the outcome was affected.