University Hospitals Birmingham admits failings that harmed MS patients

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has admitted failings in the way it managed MS patients who were waiting for specialist appointments.  The Trust reviewed its MS patients after two serious incidents raised concerns about its waiting list system.. The review looked back at patients who should have received specialist follow-up from January 2019 onwards.

 The Trust had not offered 1,480 patients a consultant appointment when it should have. Many had waited between one and two years beyond their expected follow-up date. The Trust then reviewed whether these delays had caused harm and found that 195 patients had suffered harm because of the problems with their care. Two patients suffered severe harm and nine suffered moderate harm. A further 184 patients suffered lower levels of harm.

The Trust has now issued duty of candour letters to the 11 patients who suffered moderate or severe harm. These letters are sent when a healthcare provider believes something went wrong with a patient’s care and caused, or may have caused, significant harm. The letter should explain what happened and offer an apology where appropriate.

For patients who have received one of these letters, this may be an important part of understanding what went wrong in their care. It can also provide useful evidence when considering whether the failings caused an injury that could support a group action claim.

The main issue identified is the failures in the Trust’s booking and waiting list processes. Patients with MS should have regular specialist reviews. These appointments are important because MS can change over time and treatment may need to be reviewed and adjusted. The treatments offered are more effective when administered early. This means without follow up appointments, patients could miss opportunities to access treatments in a timely manner.

The Trust found that some patients were not given their expected follow up appointments. The review linked this to problems with its booking processes. It also found that some patients had been moved into general neurology waiting lists, where they were not receiving the specialist care they needed. Because of these issues in the process, some patients waited far longer than they should have for a review.

In group action claims, the length of the delay is important. A missed appointment does not automatically mean that negligence has occurred, but if the delay caused avoidable harm, action can be taken.  The key question is whether the failure to provide the appointment fell below the standard expected of the Trust and whether this caused harm that would not have happened otherwise. A delay may not simply mean a patient had to wait longer for an appointment. In some cases, it may have changed the patient’s health and future quality of life.

For example, this could mean a patient had a specific date when they should have been reviewed by their MS specialist, but weren’t offered that appointment because of booking or waiting list failures. If their condition wasn’t monitored and their treatment wasn’t adjusted in time as a result, this is the kind of failing that could support a claim.

NHS England also raised concerns about the Trust’s booking system. Although the performance notice issued to the Trust was later discharged, NHS England said there was still a lack of clarity about the problems with the booking system and whether other specialties may have been affected.

This could be important for patients who received care from other departments at the Trust and experienced similar problems with missed or delayed appointments.

If you received a duty of candour letter from University Hospitals Birmingham, it means the Trust has identified a problem with your care and has recognised that you suffered harm. While this can be incredibly alarming, it doesn’t automatically mean that you have a successful claim. A claim also needs to show that the failings caused an injury that you would not otherwise have suffered.

You may also have concerns even if you did not receive a duty of candour letter. The Trust’s review identified 1,480 patients who had not received an expected consultant appointment. Not every patient in this group was found to have suffered harm, but the absence of a letter does not necessarily mean that your care was appropriate.

It may be worth finding out whether these problems affected your care if you were an MS patient at University Hospitals Birmingham and experienced:

• a long delay in seeing a specialist
• a missed follow-up
• a delay in starting or changing treatment

This is especially important if your condition became worse during the delay. You may have experienced new symptoms or a lasting change in your health.

You usually need to start a clinical negligence claim within three years of the injury, or three years from when you first found out something had gone wrong with your care, whichever is later. This matters here, because you may only have learned about a missed or delayed follow-up when the Trust’s duty of candour letter arrived, sometimes a long time after your treatment began. If you’re not sure where your time limit stands, it’s best to get advice as early as possible.

Every patient’s circumstances are different and you don’t need to work this out alone. You don’t need to have received a duty of candour letter to get in touch. If you were a patient at University Hospitals Birmingham and you’re concerned about a delay in your MS care, we can look into it for you.Our specialist team can review your medical records and help you understand whether you have been impacted by the failings of the booking system at this trust. We can advise about the care you received and if it fell below the expected standard and whether this caused your injury.

We understand that finding out your care may have been affected by wider failures can be worrying. You may also be unsure about what happened to your treatment or whether you have a claim.  If you or a loved one received care from University Hospitals Birmingham and you’re concerned that problems with the Trust’s waiting lists affected your treatment, our group action team is here to support you.

Contact our team today.