The failure of a doctor to diagnose cancer or delay in the diagnosis of cancer can have a devastating and ultimately tragic effect on an individual and their family.Early detection and treatment is of paramount importance. A delay in diagnosis of cancer may result in an individual having to undergo more serious treatment and it could mean that the chance of recovery is greatly reduced.A delay in diagnosis can be as a result of a number of errors on the part of the doctor or hospital, such as:

• Failure or delay by a GP to refer the patient to a specialist for further testing
• Failure to perform a test which would diagnose the cancer
• Misinterpretation of test results
• Failure to recognise the existence of a tumour
• Failure to perform a procedure correctly
• Failure to read or interpret x-rays correctly