‘Colossal’ NHS mail mistake puts over 1,700 patients at risk

Following a review by the National Audit Office, it has emerged that thousands of patient records have been left to pile up in a warehouse, with cancer test results being amongst the documents that were missing.

The company responsible for the mix-up, NHS Shared Business Services (SBS), is part-owned by the Department of Health, and was employed to redirect mail for the health service in the South West, north-west London and the East Midlands.

The report by the National Audit Office found that the cost of dealing with the matter would likely be in the region of upwards of £6.6m.

A spokesperson for the NHS SBS acknowledged that there had been “failings” and added “We regret this situation and have co-operated fully with the NAO in its investigation.”

Separate investigations are currently being undertaken with regard to the 1,788 instances of potential harm of patients, identified by GPs reviewing the missing notes. 200,000 additional records are still to be reviewed to determine whether potential harm may have taken place.

A Department of Health spokesperson promised to remain transparent over their handling of the incident and said they would ensure that this did not happen again.

The BMA’s Dr Richard Vautrey, said “The handling and transfer of clinical correspondence is a crucial part of how general practice operates, and it’s essential that important information reaches GPs as soon as possible so that they can provide the best possible care to their patients.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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