Rise in number of patients misdiagnosed in four Manchester hospitals
- Oct 15, 2015
- EmmaArnold
Hundreds of patients were misdiagnosed at four Greater Manchester hospitals according to an investigation by the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
The urgent internal review found 400 patients were misdiagnosed in total and 105 of the cases had a possible delay in diagnosing or treating cancer.
The data shows there were five serious incidents reported by staff between January 2010 and March 2015 which compares drastically to the 11 serious incidents regarding misdiagnosis reported between April and August 2015 alone.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates health and social care in England, is said to be monitoring the exercise before they decide whether or not to intervene.
The Trust carried out the review of incidents and complaints made over the last five years and was triggered after an increase in the number of failings reported by medical staff.
The Trust has said their safety priorities for this year include sepsis, pressure ulcers and safer surgery.
Hannah Bottomley, Solicitor in the clinical negligence department at PotterReesDolan, said:
It was with mixed feelings that I read through the above MEN article as I was happy to note that staff are continuing to report errors when they are found, rather than trying to cover them up, and that the Trust executives have now launched a comprehensive investigation into the situation.
However, I was also very concerned to read that it has taken a significant increase in reports of instances of missed or delayed diagnosis to prompt this action and was alarmed at the fact that the Trust have identified 105 instances where there has been an delay in diagnosis or treatment of cancer. What must be an incredibly difficult time for an individual and their family must be made even more difficult with the knowledge that the cancer could have been diagnosed sooner or treated sooner.
As we are all aware, due to the various government promotions, one of the key elements in battling cancer is early diagnosis and as members of the public we are all being encouraged to be aware of early symptoms and report them to our doctors. It is therefore very hard to understand that in such a setting delays are still happening.
I hope that those patients who have been identified as having been subjected to any delay will be informed by the Trust and that the Trust can be open and transparent in their investigation so individual patients are aware of all the circumstances and that hospital staff and bosses can lead from their mistakes and ensure patients in the future receive the care that they are entitled to.