Almost 2,000 Liverpool patients with potential cancer symptoms were not given automatic second appointments by the city’s main NHS trust.
Minutes of the Liverpool University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have shown that around 1,800 patients on a two-week wait pathway for potential cancer screenings were not offered a second consultation if they did not make an initially scheduled session. National guidance states that a second booking should happen automatically and the Trust conceded in its board minutes that it was not communicated to GPs in some cases.
A two-week referral is a request from a General Practitioner (GP) to ask a hospital for an urgent appointment for a patient as they have symptoms that might indicate cancer. The two-week system was introduced to allow for examinations to be conducted as quickly as possible.
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A report into key risks identified within the trust said an incident management group had been established, chaired by medical director Dr Jim Gardner, to “systematically review this group of patients in order to establish whether they still require an appointment and whether they have suffered any harm.” It added that its own investigation found that the lack of referral “leaves a risk that these patients could require specialist review but have not received it and their GP may be unaware.”
The minutes said: “This has been reported to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England (NHSE) and integrated care board colleagues and is being updated through the System Improvement Board. Contact will be made with all affected patients and duty of candour applied.”
Trust chief executive James Sumner presented a report to board members stating how further risks had been identified within the organisation, including urgent care pressures, new hospital staffing and the trust’s financial position. Mr Sumner wrote: “The Trust continues to struggle to meet the challenge of demand and capacity issues related to urgent care. This is largely due to significant numbers of patients delayed in a hospital setting awaiting ongoing care and the impact on available beds for those waiting in Accident & Emergency (A&E).”
Dr Jim Gardner, Executive Medical Director at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Trust has identified a risk to patients who did not attend their appointment under the cancer two-week wait protocols. We have a team of experts, including colleagues from the Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, working rapidly to review the cases. We will contact all patients who require a follow-up appointment directly.
“We take all safety incidents seriously and we are extremely sorry for the concern this may cause our patients and their families. We have reported this as a serious incident with the Care Quality Commission and NHS England and Improvement and will be working closely with them to ensure oversight of our investigations.”
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