09/09/2025
When Your GP Doesn’t Refer You – And it costs you time you didn't have. GPs are the front line of the NHS - and often the gatekeepers to life-saving specialist care.
But what happens when a GP:
❌ Dismisses worrying symptoms?
❌ Fails to order basic tests?
❌ Delays referring a patient to a specialist?
In many cases, it means serious conditions like cancer are diagnosed far too late, robbing patients of treatment options, better outcomes, or even their lives.
At Tomlin and Partners, we see too many cases where warning signs were clear, but GPs failed to:
🔹 Follow NICE guidelines
🔹 Refer under the urgent two-week cancer pathway
🔹 Act on abnormal test results
🔹 Take patient concerns seriously
When does this cross into clinical negligence? It’s not just about delay, it’s about whether a reasonably competent GP would have acted differently. We work with independent medical experts to assess what should have been done, when, and how that delay impacted the patient’s health.
These cases can lead to substantial compensation, especially where delayed referrals have led to terminal diagnoses, aggressive treatments, or reduced life expectancy.