Published at 11:12, Thursday, 05 July 2012

NEW allegations of negligence have emerged against North Cumbria’s scandal-hit breast cancer service AFTER it was given the all-clear.

Dr Rebecca Wagstaff

A legal firm is now representing 19 women with concerns about their diagnosis at hospitals in Whitehaven and Carlisle.

Some are among the 16 women found to have been wrongly given the all-clear after being screened at the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital.

But it has now emerged that Carlisle-based Burnetts is also investigating claims of women seen after the routine mammogram service was restarted under the leadership of a new team from Newcastle.

On top of this, medical law solicitor Lynne Hall said North Cumbria’s hospital trust has decided to defend two of the claims from women initially told they were among the 16 – a move she said has angered the patients involved.

NHS Cumbria, which commissions the screening, has stressed that the service is safe and people should continue attending mammogram appointments.

The breast screening service at the two hospitals was halted in July 2010 after concerns were raised that some cases were being missed.

A high-profile investigation was launched, in which more than 1,600 tests were reviewed and dozens of women recalled for further checks. It concluded that radiologists heading the screening programme at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust did not carry out follow-up tests in enough cases.

A detailed report, published by Cumbria’s public health director, Professor John Ashton, revealed that 16 women had been wrongly given the all-clear between April 1, 2007, and June 29, 2010.

The service was allowed to restart just after Christmas the same year, this time under the leadership of experts from Newcastle hospitals. But Mrs Hall said that the firm is now investigating a total of 19 claims, a number of which are from early 2011 after it was restarted.

Ten of the women identified in the official investigation as having been misdiagnosed had instructed Burnetts. One has since made an early decision not to take legal action.

She said North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust recently gave notice it will defend two of the claims as it no longer accepts they were wrongly given the all-clear.

“While it is disappointing that the trust has now confirmed their intention to defend in two of these cases, it does not affect how we will be conducting our investigation of these cases,” said Mrs Hall.

“Clearly this turn of events has angered the women involved.

“As in any other case, I’ll be influenced by the opinion of our independent medical experts rather than a trust’s readiness to fight.”

The cases of a further 10 are also being investigated by the firm, all claims of negligence relating to breast screening at the hospitals at various times.

Burnetts is investigating whether the treatment the women received from the screening service was substandard and whether delayed diagnosis has affected their treatment or prognosis.

It will also look at the psychological impact any delay in diagnosis and the review in 2010 has had on them.

Dr Rebecca Wagstaff, Cumbria’s deputy director of public health, was unable to comment on individual cases, but did say: “Where concerns are raised around the clinical care that someone has received we always investigate further.

“The Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust, which runs routine breast screening services in north and West Cumbria, is regularly quality assessed by a team of specialised clinicians.

“Incidences of cancers can sometimes occur between screening. Although mammography is the most effective way of detecting cancer, it does not detect all cancers.” Some cancers don’t show up on a mammogram and sometimes a cancer isn’t spotted. This can happen no matter how skilled the people reading the mammograms are.”

The North Cumbria hospitals trust declined to comment for legal reasons.

A free advice sheet for anyone who thinks they may have been affected is available at www.burnetts.co.uk.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk