CANCER SCARE – THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?
Maxwell Hodge Solicitors has stressed the need for the North East Wales NHS Trust to analyse the reports of all suspected cancer patients following the latest misdiagnosis scare.
The latest case of possible misdiagnosis concerns Dr. Roger Williams, a former Senior Histopathologist at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital. The North East Wales NHS Trust, which administers Wrexham Maelor Hospital, recently announced that three of its patients had been wrongly diagnosed as not having cancer.
Following a review of those patients’ tissue samples that had been reported upon by Dr. Williams, it was established that the patients were in fact suffering from cancer.
Mr Roger Williams resigned from his post in September last year as soon as misdiagnoses were brought to his attention.
As a result of these errors, further checks have been carried out by the hospital on the tissue samples of some 4,500 other patients that had been reported upon by Dr Williams in the period April 2006 to September 2007. A review of these results has shown that the pathology of a number of other patients have also been incorrectly reported.
As a consequence, the North East Wales NHS Trust is now in the process of reviewing a sample of the results of other negative cancer reports for patients going back to September 2004.
Michael Danby, a clinical negligence specialist, from Merseyside-based Maxwell Hodge Solicitors comments: “Due to the number of cases emerging, it is my view that the Trust has a duty to analyse the reports of all suspected cancer patients over a period pre-dating 2004, and not just reports of negatively reported cancer cases.”
“I would be very concerned if the Trust simply limits its review to cases where patients have been given the all clear of cancer and if the review is limited to cases, which only go back to 2004.”
Maxwell Hodge, Merseyside-based solicitors, are currently involved in legal action against the North East Wales NHS Trust in connection with misdiagnosis claims which predate 2004.
These include a case in which a patient in 1998, following pathology reported by Dr Williams, was wrongly informed that she was suffering from terminal cancer. In fact, the patient was suffering from a non-terminal condition.
Unfortunately, as a result of the misdiagnosis, the patient has undergone unnecessary radiotherapy treatment leading to some loss of lung function and a delay in correctly diagnosing and treating the actual condition.
As a direct result of the misdiagnosis, the patient and patient’s family were put through many years of very significant physical and mental anguish until the misdiagnosis came to light.
Patients attending the hospital come from North East Wales, North West England, the Midlands and West Central Wales.
If you have been affected by this article and wish to seek advice, please telephone 0800 3285061 for Michael Danby or alternatively visit Maxwell Hodge website for contact details at www.maxwellhodge.co.uk.
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