Krishna Kotecha and Daniel O’Keeffe of Moosa-Duke Solicitors recently attended the annual clinical negligence conference organised by the Association Of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

The subject under consideration was obstetrics/gynaecology.  Many eminent consultants (medical experts) and lawyers addressed different aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology, ranging from the types of mistakes that can be made in the management of gynaecological conditions to the errors that may occur during the management of a woman’s pregnancy, labour and/or delivery.

One of the topics discussed was the various types of gynaecological cancers that a woman may suffer from (ovarian, cervical, endometrial).  Of these, cervical cancer is the only gynaecological cancer that a woman can be screened for.  Abnormal cells can be identified at an early stage and treated, thus avoiding the development of cancer.  However lesions are often missed for many years and cancer develops, which can lead to a woman requiring a hysterectomy or even to death, depending on when it is eventually diagnosed.

Symptoms of cervical cancer include bleeding between periods, heavy periods, bleeding and/or pain during sexual intercourse, bleeding after menopause, persistent pelvic and/or back pain.  A woman who has any of these symptoms should consult her doctor (even if her last smear test was clear).

We have helped women to recover compensation after their smear tests were misread and they developed cervical cancer. If you have concerns about the treatment received by you or a loved one please telephone us on 0116 254 7456 to see if we can help you.