Cancer Testing Scare At University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
The University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is to launch an independent, external review into pathology services at the Trust following allegations of 15 cases of misdiagnosis between 2000 and 2008. On advice from the Royal College of Pathologists, two independent specialists will review 3,500 randomly selected cases from 2007 (approximately one fifth of all cases for that year) to establish if there is a significant error rate and identify any areas of concern. The audit is expected to take 10 weeks to complete and the results will be published on completion.
Fears have arisen that 15 people, whose tissue samples were analysed at the Trust’s laboratories between 2000 and 2008, have been given the wrong diagnosis. It is alleged that one woman, who has since died, was incorrectly told that a breast biopsy was benign but was subsequently found to have cancer that had spread. There are also concerns that people have been treated for cancer when, in fact, they never had the disease.
The potential impact is huge as, regrettably, there are likely to be significant physical and psychological consequences for a patient who has been misdiagnosed. A patient who has been incorrectly diagnosed with cancer may have undergone unnecessary treatment, resulting in unpleasant side effects, and may have suffered a psychiatric illness as a result of the diagnosis. The effect of wrongly advising a patient that their results are clear when, if fact, they are suffering from cancer could be even more catastrophic, particularly if the delayed diagnosis has allowed the cancer to worsen or spread. We anticipate that a number of compensation claims against the Trust will follow.
Misdiagnosis of medical conditions and misinterpretation of test results are, although unusual, not unheard of. At Foot Anstey we have a wide experience of investigating and pursuing these types of claims. For more information, please contact Lynda Thomas on 01823 625628 or lynda.thomas@footanstey.com
Published 22/06/2009
