Pulmonary Embolism Misdiagnosis Claims UK

Quick answer: A pulmonary embolism (PE) or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) misdiagnosis claim in the UK may be possible where a GP, A&E team, ambulance service or hospital missed or delayed diagnosing a blood clot — or failed to assess and reduce clot risk during a hospital stay — and that failure caused avoidable harm. Examples include a clot that travelled to the lungs, lasting breathing or heart problems, post-thrombotic leg damage, or death. Not every clot is negligence: many happen despite good care. English and Welsh law asks whether care fell below a competent standard and whether competent care would probably have prevented or reduced the harm. Most adults have three years from their date of knowledge under the Limitation Act 1980. For a free, no-obligation review, start with the Quick Claim Form on mayiclaim.co.uk.

At a glance

A claim may be possible where a DVT or PE was missed, dismissed or investigated too slowly, or where hospital clot-risk assessment and prevention were not done to a competent standard.
NICE guideline NG158 sets out a structured diagnostic pathway for suspected DVT and PE — a two-level Wells score, then a D-dimer test or scan — which experts use as clinical context.
Common patterns include a swollen leg called a sprain, breathlessness called anxiety or a chest infection, and discharge without a scan or blood thinners.
Causation is central: experts ask whether earlier diagnosis and treatment would probably have made a real difference.
Usual adult time limit: three years from date of knowledge. Children and people who lack capacity are treated differently.
NHS claims are normally handled through NHS Resolution; private care through the provider’s indemnity insurer.
Start with the Quick Claim Form on mayiclaim.co.uk — free, confidential, no obligation.

DVT, PE and hospital-acquired clots — what a claim looks at

A DVT is a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg. A PE happens when a clot blocks a blood vessel in the lungs, often after travelling from a DVT. Doctors group the two together as venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Situation	Signs NICE asks clinicians to assess	Failures often explored in claims	What independent experts check
Suspected DVT	Swollen or painful leg (NICE NG158)	Leg pain labelled a strain, cramp or cellulitis without a Wells score; no ultrasound or D-dimer; no interim blood thinners while waiting for a delayed scan	Whether the DVT pathway was followed and whether earlier treatment would probably have stopped the clot growing or travelling
Suspected PE	Chest pain, shortness of breath or coughing up blood (NICE NG158)	Symptoms put down to anxiety, a chest infection or a muscle strain; no Wells score, D-dimer or CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA); discharge without safety-net advice	Timing of each missed opportunity and whether earlier diagnosis would probably have prevented collapse, lasting damage or death
Clot risk in hospital	All medical and surgical patients assessed for VTE and bleeding risk on admission (NICE NG89)	No risk assessment; preventive blood thinners or stockings not given when indicated; no reassessment after surgery or a change in condition	Whether prevention fell below a competent standard and whether it would probably have avoided the clot

This table is general context to help you understand claims. It is not medical advice, and a guideline being missed does not prove negligence on its own.

What counts as a missed or delayed blood clot diagnosis?

Early clot symptoms overlap with everyday problems: a calf clot can feel like a pulled muscle, and a PE can look like a chest infection or panic attack. That is why NICE guideline NG158 (Venous thromboembolic diseases: diagnosis, management and thrombophilia testing) asks clinicians to take a history, examine the patient and use a structured scoring tool rather than relying on impression alone.

For suspected DVT, NG158 recommends the two-level DVT Wells score. Where a DVT is “likely” (2 points or more), it recommends a proximal leg vein ultrasound, with the result within 4 hours if possible. If the scan cannot be done within 4 hours, it recommends a D-dimer test, interim therapeutic anticoagulation (blood thinners) and a scan within 24 hours. Where a DVT is “unlikely”, a D-dimer test comes first.

For suspected PE, NG158 recommends a history, examination and chest X-ray, followed by the two-level PE Wells score. Where PE is “likely” (more than 4 points), it recommends a CT pulmonary angiogram immediately if possible, or interim anticoagulation if the scan cannot be done straight away. Where PE is “unlikely” (4 points or less), it recommends a D-dimer test, with the result within 4 hours if possible. If the D-dimer is positive, imaging follows. Where suspicion is low, clinicians may use the pulmonary embolism rule-out criteria (PERC) to decide whether further tests are needed. When a clot is ruled out, NG158 says patients should be told the signs to look out for and when to seek help again.

A claim is not about hindsight. It asks whether the clinicians should reasonably have recognised a possible clot and acted on it. Some clots are genuinely hard to detect, and some people deteriorate despite excellent care.

When is a missed PE or DVT medical negligence?

Courts in England and Wales apply the Bolam and Bolitho principles. Care is judged against what a responsible body of competent practitioners would have done, provided that opinion stands up to logical analysis. As explained in our guide to medical negligence claims in the UK, four elements usually need to be proved:

Duty of care — present once a GP, hospital, walk-in centre or ambulance service accepts you for assessment or treatment.
Breach of duty — the care fell below a competent standard. Examples include not examining or scoring a suspected clot, not arranging an indicated test, misreading a scan, or discharging someone without blood thinners or safety-net advice when the pathway called for them.
Causation — on the balance of probabilities, competent care would have avoided or reduced the harm. In clot cases this usually turns on timing: would earlier anticoagulation probably have stopped the clot travelling, prevented a larger PE, or avoided lasting damage?
Loss — measurable extra harm such as further hospital treatment, reduced breathing capacity, long-term leg problems, psychological injury, lost earnings, care needs or, in fatal cases, losses suffered by the family.

NICE guidance is clinical context, not a legal checklist, and a defendant may argue the outcome would have been the same anyway. Independent experts — often in emergency, respiratory or general medicine — reconstruct what should have happened and when.

Failure to prevent a clot in hospital

Some claims are not about diagnosis at all. They are about prevention. NICE guideline NG89 (Venous thromboembolism in over 16s: reducing the risk of hospital-acquired deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) recommends that all medical and surgical patients are assessed for their risk of VTE and bleeding as soon as possible after admission, or by the time of the first consultant review. Patients should be reassessed at consultant review or if their condition changes. Where preventive blood thinners are used, NG89 recommends starting them as soon as possible and within 14 hours of the decision to admit. Pregnant women and women who have recently given birth should also be assessed on admission, with reassessment within 6 hours of giving birth. NG89 also recommends telling patients on discharge about the signs of DVT and PE.

A prevention claim asks whether that assessment and prevention were done competently and whether proper prevention would probably have avoided the clot. It overlaps with our guides to surgical negligence claims and obstetrics and gynaecology negligence, because surgery, pregnancy and the weeks after birth are recognised risk periods.

Common scenarios in blood clot negligence claims

Common patterns include:

The “sprained” leg. A swollen, painful calf is put down to a strain, cramp or infection without a Wells score, D-dimer or scan, and the person later collapses with a PE.
Breathlessness put down to anxiety. Sudden breathlessness, chest pain or a fast heart rate is treated as a panic attack or chest infection without PE being considered, sometimes in a young person or someone who recently gave birth.
Positive test, no action. A raised D-dimer or suspicious scan report is not followed up, or the result sits unread.
No interim blood thinners. A scan cannot be done within the recommended time and no interim anticoagulation is given while the patient waits.
After surgery or immobilisation. No VTE risk assessment, no preventive treatment when indicated, or no reassessment when mobility drops.

These patterns sit alongside other time-critical misdiagnoses on May I Claim, including heart attack misdiagnosis claims, stroke misdiagnosis claims, sepsis negligence claims and meningitis misdiagnosis claims. The conditions differ, but the legal structure is similar. If the failure happened in an emergency department, see A&E negligence claims. If it began in general practice, see GP negligence claims.

Evidence that helps a pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis claim

These are timeline cases. A specialist solicitor usually requests the full records with your written authority. Useful material includes:

GP, out-of-hours and NHS 111 records, including any safety-net advice
Ambulance records and A&E notes, observation charts and discharge letters
Any Wells score, D-dimer result and scan request or report, with the times each happened
Hospital VTE risk assessments and drug charts showing whether and when blood thinners were given
Surgical, maternity or orthopaedic records if the clot followed an operation, birth or immobilisation
Later specialist letters describing any lasting damage
Your own timeline of symptoms, visits and what you were told, plus complaint responses or inquest documents
Evidence of financial losses such as earnings, travel and care costs

How much compensation might a PE or DVT claim be worth?

Important: No reputable adviser can value a blood clot claim on first contact, and May I Claim does not publish figures for these claims. This section explains what affects value; it is not a quote.

Compensation usually has two parts. General damages cover pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the negligence — not by the clot itself if it would have happened anyway. Special damages cover financial losses such as lost earnings, care from family or professionals, travel, equipment, private treatment where reasonably needed, and future costs.

The main factors are:

The difference the delay made. A short delay that changed nothing may attract little or nothing, even if the care was poor. A delay that probably allowed a clot to travel to the lungs is very different.
Lasting effects. Long-term breathlessness, strain on the heart, repeated clots, or post-thrombotic leg pain, swelling or ulcers can all increase value.
Treatment and daily life. Extra admissions, intensive care, longer-term anticoagulation, time off work and the impact on family life all count.
Fatal cases. Where negligence caused or contributed to a death, the estate and eligible dependants may claim, including a fixed statutory bereavement award for qualifying relatives. See claiming when a loved one dies due to hospital negligence.

For how funding works, see our no win no fee claims guide.

Time limits for pulmonary embolism misdiagnosis claims

Most adult claims in England and Wales must be started at court within three years under the Limitation Act 1980. The three years usually run from the date of the negligence or, if later, your date of knowledge — when you first knew, or reasonably ought to have known, that a significant injury might be linked to the care you received. In clot cases that is often when a later scan, specialist letter or investigation connects the harm to an earlier missed opportunity.

For children, the three years do not usually start until their 18th birthday, so a claim is generally possible until age 21. If the injured person lacks mental capacity to manage a claim, the clock usually does not run while that continues. After a death, the family generally has three years from the date of death or from their own date of knowledge. Courts have a limited discretion to allow late claims, but it is never guaranteed. See personal injury claim time limits in the UK. If you are unsure whether you are still in time, ask for a free assessment early.

This article is written primarily for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules and procedures.

NHS or private care

NHS claims are normally brought against the responsible NHS body and handled by NHS Resolution, not the individual clinician, and claiming does not affect your NHS treatment. A complaint can run alongside a claim but does not stop the limitation clock. See NHS negligence claims. Private hospitals and clinics are usually defended by the provider’s or clinician’s indemnity insurer. Your solicitor identifies the right defendant and follows the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes before any court claim.

How the May I Claim process works

May I Claim connects people with an independent panel of specialist solicitors. We do not cold-call, and we are not the acting law firm: the legal work is carried out by the panel solicitor matched to your case. Clinical negligence claims are usually funded on a no win, no fee Conditional Fee Agreement, with any success fee capped at 25% of damages (excluding future losses). Read our guide on how to choose a medical negligence solicitor and our medical negligence service.

Complete the Quick Claim Form on mayiclaim.co.uk — the primary next step.
Free review — a trained adviser looks at what happened, the timing and whether investigation is worthwhile.
Specialist match — if suitable, you are matched with an independent panel solicitor experienced in misdiagnosis claims.
Funding explained — the Conditional Fee Agreement and any insurance are explained before substantive work begins.
Evidence — records, scan and test timelines, and independent expert reports on breach and causation.
Letter of Claim — formal allegations go to NHS Resolution or the private insurer.
Negotiation or court — most clinical negligence claims settle without a trial.

Completing the form does not commit you to anything.

FAQs

Can I claim if my blood clot was missed at A&E?
Possibly. If A&E did not assess a suspected clot properly, did not arrange an indicated test or scan, or discharged you without blood thinners or safety-net advice when the pathway called for them, and that caused avoidable harm, you may have a claim.

What is a Wells score and why does it matter?
It is a points-based tool NICE recommends for estimating how likely a DVT or PE is. The score guides whether a D-dimer test or a scan comes next. A missing or wrongly calculated score can be evidence of substandard care, but it does not prove negligence on its own.

Can I claim if I developed a clot after surgery or childbirth?
Sometimes. NICE recommends VTE and bleeding risk assessment on admission, reassessment when things change, and preventive treatment where the benefits outweigh the risks. A claim may be possible if this was not done competently and proper prevention would probably have avoided the clot.

Can the family claim if someone died from a pulmonary embolism?
Yes, where negligent care caused or contributed to the death. The estate and eligible dependants may claim, including a fixed bereavement award for qualifying relatives. See fatal hospital negligence claims.

How long do I have to make a claim?
Usually three years from the date of the negligence or your date of knowledge, if later. Different rules apply to children, people who lack capacity and fatal claims, so get advice early.

Next step

If you believe a missed or delayed blood clot diagnosis caused avoidable harm, complete the Quick Claim Form on mayiclaim.co.uk.

Thanks — we’ll be in touch about your enquiry.

When you submit the form, you will be asked to confirm: I agree that May I Claim may contact me by phone, SMS or email about this enquiry.

We’ll only use your details to follow up on the claim you’ve asked about. You’re not signing up for cold calls or unrelated solicitor spam. You can ask us to stop anytime.

May I Claim connects you with an independent panel of specialists. We don’t sell your details for cold calling.

This article is general information about UK clinical negligence claims, not legal or medical advice for your individual circumstances. No compensation outcome is guaranteed. mayiclaim is a trading name of R Costings Limited (Registered in England No. 4804492), regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under FRN 836625. May I Claim connects you with an independent panel of specialist solicitors; the legal work on any claim is carried out by the panel firm matched to your case.

Pulmonary Embolism Misdiagnosis Claims UK: Can You Claim for a Missed DVT or Blood Clot?