Leading cancer surgeons have warned that the NHS faces a potential wave of compensation claims from patients whose cancer treatment was delayed because of Covid-19 disruption. Prof Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said he was “very concerned” that patients might sue if their cancer spread after postponed surgery or scans.
Prof Gary Middleton, a cancer surgeon in the West Midlands, told a webinar that he had heard of many patients being sent home on the day of surgery due to lack of intensive care beds. “We’ve already seen complaint letters coming through from very angry patients that have been delayed on their surgery,” he said. “I do think potentially it could be bad news.”
Peter Walsh, chief executive of the patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), said his organisation knew of several patients or relatives considering legal action. He cited a man whose chemotherapy for prostate cancer was stopped halfway through, leaving him feeling he had been given “a death sentence”. In another case, the daughter of a woman who died of lung cancer after a four-month delay in diagnosis plans to sue.
Mortensen said fears of a “deluge of claims” might be overstated, but added that families were more likely to sue if hospitals were not open and honest about delays. He suggested that the NHS could introduce a form of no-fault compensation to prevent lawyers from “making all the money”.
Despite efforts to continue as much cancer surgery as possible, including using private hospitals, Mortensen acknowledged that “a minority of patients have fallen through the net”. He also highlighted a “bigger problem” of late diagnosis due to reduced access to GPs and patients avoiding doctors during lockdown, which could lead to more advanced cancers and potential legal action.
