The NHS in England has spent at least £100m resolving legal claims due to delays, errors or inadequate care related to cancer over the past 11 years, according to figures obtained by Macmillan Cancer Support.
Two-thirds of successful claims were from people who faced issues in getting diagnosed or starting treatment and as a result suffered physical and/or psychological consequences, leading the charity to urge improved early diagnosis.
Jagtar Dhanda , head of inclusion at Macmillan, said: “We must ensure that these rare but costly cases of legal action are kept to an absolute minimum and are calling on politicians and NHS leaders to make high-quality cancer patient care a priority at the upcoming general election. In particular, if the NHS was better at diagnosing people on time then most of these incidents wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
“Macmillan knows that complex cancer treatment is not risk-free and unfortunately the occurrence of some errors is inevitable. When something does go wrong patients must be treated with dignity and respect from the moment they make a complaint.”
Through freedom of information requests to the NHS Litigation Authority, Macmillan obtained details of 1,860 legal claims between 2003 and 2014 relating to cancer care and treatment made against the NHS and resolved.
The £100m figure includes the cost to the NHS of both successful and unsuccessful claims, taking in legal fees and damages.
Among the cases were 12 legal claims in 2013-14 e tresulting from failures or delays in diagnosis that led to patients being diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer, which cost the NHS £1.3m. The previous year there were eight deaths due to failure or delay in diagnosis, which cost the NHS £1.3m in legal actions.
Macmillan says its analysis suggests that over the past five years the number of claims resolved each year has grown by 70%. This could be due to more awareness of patients’ rights and litigation options, but the charity suggests it could also be because fewer complaints are being resolved on the ground, probably because of poor communication between staff and patients. The charity says training in advanced communication and in how to have sensitive conversations must be prioritised in the NHS.
“Patients say that when they raise a complaint they want someone to listen to them, for the problem to be resolved as quickly as possible and with meaningful solutions so they receive the emotional and physical support they need,” said Dhanda. “Sadly numerous inquiries into the complaints system show that too often this doesn’t happen. This can push people into feeling that resorting to costly legal action is the only solution they face.”
