Six women to sue over Accrington hospital breast cancer blunders

8:40am Monday 23rd November 2009

By Neil Docking

SIX women wrongly given the all-clear in the East Lancashire breast cancer screening blunders scandal have launched a legal fight for compensation.

Medical negligence solicitors said they were preparing the patients’ cases to see the extent of their claims against East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Manchester-based firm Pannone LLP said it was represent-ing six women who were not diagnosed until their mammograms were re-checked after they had been given the all clear.

The firm said, while it was early stages, each claim could amount to tens of thousands of pounds.

A health watchdog said he had sympathy with the woman and that, if their legal action was successful, the trust would have to ‘pay up and take it on the chin’.

Hospital bosses said they would work with the women and their legal representatives over the claims.

Pannone LLP handled another six cases of similar breast screening failures at Trafford General Hospital between 2003 and 2005.

In these claims, a 58-year-old woman whose diagnosis was delayed by nine months in that case was reported to have received £10,000 compensation.

Emma Holt, the firm’s head of clinical negligence, said: “We're at the beginning of our investigation into the standards of care these women received and the consequences for them. The periods of delay range from months to years.

“We have to establish not just that there was a failing in their care but also what the consequences of that are.

“How much money cases of this nature attract depends on the impact of the delay in prognosis.

“If the impact is only in treatment - for example if a woman has to have a mastectomy instead of a lumpctomy - any damages would be awarded for the difference in this procedure and the impact this has had.

“At the other end of the spectrum would be the situation ultimately where the impact in prognosis is that there has been an impact on life expectancy.”

The breast cancer screening failures at Accrington Victoria Hospital were revealed in September when it emerged that 355 mammograms had to be re-checked due to concerns about a consultant radiologist’s work.

Eighty-five women had to undergo a second breast examination, and 14 were told they had invasive breast cancer. Another four women were diagnosed with a secondary breast condition.

Some of the women affected were from Blackburn and Darwe, but the majority live in the Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley areas.

Last week it was revealed that the consultant at the century of the inquiry, Dr Glenn Anthony Kelly, had been suspended by the General Medical Council, pending an investigation into his work.

Coun Roy Davies, a trust health watchdog chairman, said that if the women were legally entitled to compensation the hospital would have to ‘pay up and take it on the chin’.

He said: “It's very, very difficult because obviously the more money the trust pays out, the less money there is to fund operations and correct things like this.

“But if the ladies have been mistreated the trust is responsible and they just have to accept it.

“I just hope the ladies have been treated properly since then and received the right treatment and assistance they need and, hopefully, they are satisfied with that treatment they have now had. They have my sympathy.”

An East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said the trust would offer its full cooperation.

She said: “If any women or families involved wish to seek compensation, we will work with them and their legal representatives to ensure their claims go through the appropriate channels.”