Patient safety day 2024

“Get it right, make it safe!" Is this year's slogan

This year's theme highlights the importance of a correct and timely diagnosis, as a delayed diagnosis can mean a much better chance of recovery for many patients.

A diagnosis identifies a patient’s health problem and is a key to accessing the care and treatment they need. Errors in a diagnosis can be significantly improved by addressing the underlying issues that can lead to a misdiagnosis. Some key factors that can contribute to a lack of diagnostic safety are:

• Communication failures between health workers or health workers and their patients.
• Heavy workloads.
• Ineffective teamwork.
• Prejudices and bias's.
• Clinician training.
• Fatigue or stress.

Addressing issues of diagnostic safety will, in time, mean addressing the state of the healthcare system.

Anne Shaw

Our client, Anne Shaw, knows better than most, the impact a delayed diagnosis can have.

Anne was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, but after a lumpectomy and removal of lymph nodes followed by chemotherapy gave her the all-clear, she was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After she underwent surgery to remove her ovaries, she was again told she was cancer-free.

In 2019, Anne returned to St James’s for routine scans. Having had cancer previously in her life, years after her initial diagnosis, she began noticing some warning signs and experiencing pain that was similar to what she had felt when she had been previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She returned the following year, having booked a gynaecology appointment to discuss this in the winter of 2020. At this appointment, after the doctor asked Anne a series of questions, she was told she did not have cancer. With this reassurance from her doctor that she remained cancer free, Anne carried on with her life under this impression.

In 2021, Anne’s condition had worsened, and she was struggling with pain and fatigue. Having returned to her GP, who fast tracked her referral to the oncology team at St James Hospital, where it was confirmed that Anne’s ovarian cancer had in fact returned. With this diagnosis, Anne was told she required major surgery. Had the cancer been detected earlier, in addition to the potential for longer life expectancy and better quality of life, Anne would also not have had to undergo a colostomy. She now lives with a stoma, which severely restricts her diet and activities.

Now, Anne and her husband Louis are facing up to the reality that she may have only months left to live, after doctors warned there is nothing more that can be done.

About her experience, Anne said, "While I’m of course upset about the scans, it’s the appointment in 2020, where I was given the poorest of examinations, that really sticks in my throat.”

“My life has been turned upside down, everything has changed, all because of these two missed opportunities to find out that my cancer has returned. The stoma is particularly hard to live with, it’s horrendous, the most horrible thing I could imagine,” Anne continues.

In one of Anne’s appointments, the doctor in charge of her care told her he had a ‘duty of candour,’ which means healthcare professionals must tell the person when something has gone wrong, apologise to the person, offer an appropriate remedy or support to put matters right if this is possible. Due to this, he was duty bound to disclose that Anne’s cancer was visible on the X-ray she had in 2019, and it had not been flagged.

How Slater and Gordon helped

After the surgery and the revelation that if it had been caught sooner, her cancer would not have been as aggressive, Anne decided the responsible parties should be held accountable for the negligence.

She contacted Slater and Gordon and John Lowther, senior associate solicitor specialising in medical negligence, supported Anne, securing a settlement from St James’s University Hospital.

“This is an absolutely shocking case of two opportunities to identify Anne’s cancer being missed – because of the failures to realise it had returned, she now has a much poorer quality of life and is understandably very distressed about living with a stoma,” says John.

Patient Safety Day serves as a reminder that experiences such as Anne’s could have had a different outcome and even could have been potentially avoided if a correct and earlier diagnosis had been made, which highlights the importance of ensuring patients receive safe and effective healthcare.

How we can help you

A delayed diagnosis can drastically affect your health and lead to a worsening medical condition. If you, or someone you know had an illness or injury that was worsened because of a delayed medical diagnosis, Slater and Gordon’s specialist legal experts could help get the compensation you deserve.

If you or a loved one has suffered because of a delayed diagnosis, call us on 0330 107 6508 or contact us here to learn more about how we can help.