Only a small number of the 10,000 or so consultations conducted by a general practitioner each year involve patients presenting with a new, serious treatable illness. The general practitioner needs to be constantly alert to such presentations, primarily through listening to patients and taking a history. Some diagnoses result from conducting appropriate examinations, arranging investigations and interpreting the results, and by making referrals for specialist advice. This article considers examples of negligent failures in all these areas.
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