New data has emerged which reveals that the NHS Trust in northern Lincolnshire has paid out more than £1.3 million in damages for gynaecology medical negligence claims in the last five years.
The Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both Grimsby’s Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital and Scunthorpe General Hospital, has had 36 claims and incidents of gynaecology-related medical negligence reported to NHS Resolution, the legal arm of the NHS, since 2019.
In five years, the Trust has paid out £1,345,438 in damages to settle 25 gynaecology negligence claims – the highest number of claims in the region.
The data, obtained by medical negligence compensation website Medical Negligence Assist, comes amid a new report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), which revealed that women are being left in “debilitating” pain for years, with more than 760,0000 on the waiting list for appointments due to a gynaecology care “crisis”.
It was uncovered that the most common primary injury sustained as a result of medical negligence and cause of claims was unnecessary pain, with 1,337 claims put in by women across the country. The second most common was additional or unnecessary operation(s), and the third most common was cancer.
The findings also revealed the most common cause of claims was “failure to warn – informed consent” regarding gynaecology treatment, of which there were 1,324 claims and incidents across NHS Trusts in the last five years.
These are usually instances where a patient is not made fully aware of the details and/or risks of a procedure or treatment and/or has not knowingly consented.
Dr Kate Wood, Group Chief Medical Officer at NHS Humber Health Partnership, told Grimsby Live that the Trust endeavours to “make all possible improvements”.
She said: “Our aim is to deliver the highest possible standards of patient care. However, on the very rare occasions where those high standards are not met, we endeavour to learn and make all possible improvements to prevent it happening again.”
Dr Ranee Thakar, President of the RCOG, said: “A way forward is urgently needed to tackle the UK gynaecology crisis. NHS staff are also deeply concerned and distressed that they do not have the necessary resources to deliver good care, affecting their own wellbeing.
“The UK government must act now. The RCOG is calling on them to commit to long-term sustained funding to address the systemic issues driving waiting lists, alongside delivering an urgent support package for those currently on waiting lists.
“The investment will not only benefit thousands of individual women but the wider economy too, because the evidence shows that healthy women are the cornerstone of healthy societies. Get it right for women and everyone benefits.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
