Gynaecology Medical Negligence Claims: Hospitals Pay Out £3.8m
Hospitals across South London have paid out a total of £3.8million in damages for gynaecology medical negligence claims lodged against them in the last five years, new figures reveal. The six NHS Trusts in the region have settled 85 medical negligence claims related to gynaecology care since 2019, according to data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist through Freedom of Information requests. Figures also show that the number of claims and incidents reported to NHS Resolution – the legal arm of the NHS – is far higher.
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Leads in Payouts
Since 2019, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has paid out £886,217, settling 30 gynaecology medical negligence claims – the highest amount out of all Trusts in South London. The Trust is responsible for services at Lewisham Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. There were a further nine claims of gynaecology-related medical negligence reported to NHS Resolution in the same time period, which were not settled.
King’s College Hospital NHS Trust also Pays Out
King’s College Hospital (KCH) NHS Trust – which includes King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill and Queen Mary’s Hospital in Orpington – has forked out a further £856,986 in damages, settling 20 claims of medical negligence related to gynaecology care. But the total number of claims and incidents reported to the NHS legal body against the Trust stands at 30, since 2019. A spokeswoman for KCH Trust said: “Our teams work hard to deliver safe, high quality care to thousands of women every year. In those cases where mistakes do occur, we are deeply sorry for the patients affected, and undertake detailed reviews of each case to ensure lessons are learned to minimise the chances of them happening again.”
RCOG Report Highlights Gynaecology Care Crisis
The findings come following 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 760,000 on the waiting list for appointments due to a “gynaecology care crisis”. The report said: “Gynaecology has historically been perceived as less important in wider elective recovery, and this has resulted in an increasing number of complex cases, disease progression, emergency admissions and women living in pain and distress: all of which are preventable.”
Significant Financial Impact on NHS
The data revealed that across the NHS, 3,739 gynaecology medical negligence claims and incidents have been reported to NHS Resolution since 2019. Of those, 1,337 claims were made by women or on behalf of women for “unnecessary pain”. The most common claims – of which there were 1,324 claims and incidents across NHS Trusts in the last five years – were related to “failure to warn – informed consent”. These are usually instances where a patient is not made fully aware of the details or risks of a procedure or treatment, or has not knowingly consented. Since 2019, 292 of these claims have been settled with damages payouts amounting to £17.3million. Claims lodged against the NHS for failure and delays in gynaecology-related diagnosis, have cost the health service an eye-watering £32.6million since 2019.
Call for Urgent Action
In the RCOG report, Dr Ranee Thakar, said: “A way forward is urgently needed to tackle the UK gynaecology crisis. NHS staff are deeply concerned and distressed that they do not have the necessary resources to deliver good care, affecting their own well-being. 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.”
Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust has been approached for comment.
