17 cancer patients are given false all-clear

Seventeen patients given a cancer all-clear have now been told they have the disease after a series of hospital blunders.

One consultant at Hereford County Hospital has been suspended since the flawed test results came to light.

More than 4,600 biopsies and tissue samples for a range of possible conditions had to be re-examined after colleagues raised concerns about the histopathologist, who has not been named.

A total of 40 patients who were recalled were told their conditions were worse than originally thought.

Meanwhile, 62 others were informed that their illness was less serious than initially feared.

Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust announced in February it was launching an investigation after the lab mistakes became apparent.

All tissue samples involved were taken between May 2006 and August 2007.

They were sent for independent review and, as a result, 102 patients were recalled.
 
The consultant has been removed from the lab pending the completion of disciplinary procedures.
In a statement, the hospital said: "The review followed indications of possible errors in the examination of a small proportion of tissue samples by one consultant working at the hospital during that time."
"The samples that have been reexamined include biopsies, surgical specimens and cytology (cell) samples."

The trust's chief executive Martin Woodford yesterday apologised for the errors.
 
He said: "Now that the review is complete, I would once again like to apologise personally and on behalf of the trust, to all patients affected by this regrettable situation - in particular to those who had received an inaccurate diagnosis.

"Our highest priority throughout has been the care and well-being of our patients and we have acted as quickly as possible to make sure that the review was carried out thoroughly and effectively.

"The patients involved have generally appreciated the efforts we have made to investigate this situation and to recheck, individually, their samples, diagnosis and treatment and I thank them all for their patience and understanding."

He added: "No patients that we have been able to identify have died as a result of a misdiagnosis.

"However, a number of patients are undergoing treatment and we cannot definitively say they will not be affected later on."

Alison Budd, the trust's medical director, said: "Following the careful and complex checking procedure, the total number of patients that we needed to recall to discuss changes in their diagnosis or treatment was 102.

"Where necessary, those patients have had their treatment amended. We would like to reassure patients that individual details about them will not be made public."

She went on: "We took immediate action to investigate when concerns were first raised and as a result we have increased our cross-checking and quality control procedures to protect against a similar situation arising."

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, described the news as "extremely unfortunate and distressing".

She said: "It's vital that robust systems are put in place to stop this happening again." But she added: "It is also important to remember that incidences such as this are extremely rare."

4,600 Biopsies and samples had to be re-tested for the investigation.

102 Patients had to be recalled to change the diagnosis or treatment.

This article is courtesy of the Mirror.