NHS faces lawsuits from cancer patients over scans, tests and operations cancelled in lockdown

The NHS is facing scores of lawsuits from cancer patients who missed out on life-saving treatment in lockdown, the Mail can reveal.

Leading firms of lawyers have been contacted by hundreds who missed vital scans, tests and surgery because of worries over the pandemic.

One company is representing 150 patients, including dozens who have had their life-expectancy slashed. 

Several clients have lost loved ones early as a result of cancer care delays, it says. 

Many of the victims are younger patients hit by particularly aggressive forms of the disease.

Charities fear up to 35,000 extra deaths may be caused by cancer because hospitals cancelled virtually all procedures, including check-ups and operations, to cope with the coronavirus crisis when it struck.

The backlog is so large that three million are now waiting for screening, says Cancer Research UK.

Some patients were forced to raid their savings, cash in pensions, or even beg strangers for funds to pay for expensive treatment at private hospitals and are taking legal action to recoup the money.

Others are hoping the threat of legal action will force hospitals into kick-starting their treatment. Some will lead to damages claims, with compensation topping six figures in the most serious cases.

One patient, a mother of two who had her clinical trial cancelled and had to raise funds online, said she had been left to feel like she was ‘expendable’. 

Wendy Peake told the Mail that when she needed the NHS the most, ‘they abandoned me and left me to die’.

Estimates suggest that during lockdown 13,000 fewer cancer patients had surgery, 6,000 fewer underwent chemotherapy and 3,000 fewer had radiotherapy.

In some cases people died because of delays to surgery or care, while others have been left with much poorer prognoses.

Mary Smith, a medical negligence specialist at Novum Law, said: ‘There is no doubt in my mind that what we are seeing now could just be the tip of the iceberg. In the coming months, we will see a significant number of cases and complaints.’

Mrs Smith, who is working on a pro bono basis for most of her clients, told the Mail: ‘We’ve been contacted by a large number of patients, particularly cancer patients, whose treatment has been impacted by Covid-19.

‘They are people who’ve had diagnostic scans or tests delayed, treatment such as chemotherapy or drug trials cancelled, or surgery postponed.

‘Tragically, in some cases, patients have died or their life expectancy appears severely reduced because of the delays. Patients are telling us they had trouble getting access to face-to-face appointments with GPs or seeing their consultant.

‘I’ve got clients who had a diagnosis [of cancer] and were told they faced waits of many months for treatment and surgery.

‘Some were so desperate they went off and had their procedures done privately, ironically in private hospitals requisitioned by the NHS and by consultants who work within the NHS.’

In one case, Mrs Smith said, a young parent contacted their GP on the first day of lockdown in March, but was told a scan could not be organised due to Covid-19.

Abnormal blood test results were then not acted upon, meaning their cancer diagnosis was significantly delayed and no treatment or palliative care arranged.

In another a young parent’s cancer advanced after their chemotherapy was halted, but they were unable to speak to their consultant until it was too late. In both cases the patients died.

Under the terms of the Health Act 2009 and the NHS constitution, patients are entitled to consultant-led treatment for non-urgent cancer care within 18 weeks.

However, Lisa Jordan, a clinical negligence specialist at Irwin Mitchell solicitors, said: ‘Very little of that was happening during lockdown and this potentially breached patients’ rights to treatment. 

The Government should have issued an amendment to the NHS handbook and constitution to clarify what patients could expect in light of the pressure on hospitals but they failed to do that.

‘As the weeks and months have gone on it is really worrying that services are still not running as they should be. There is still an enormous backlog of, for example, endoscopies and all those other early diagnostic tests.’

She said the fear was there would be an ‘avalanche’ of cases in six to 12 months’ time. ‘It really is frightening,’ she added. 

Mrs Smith said patients may be able to take legal action using standard clinical negligence case law, which states that if treatment falls below an acceptable standard and results in harm, you may be entitled to compensation from the hospital trusts concerned.

There is also the possibility of claiming that patients’ human rights were breached.

Payouts for injury caused by negligent medical care vary according to the level of harm suffered, but in the most serious cases can run into six figures.

But Mrs Smith added: ‘The primary motivation of our clients is not to get compensation, that’s often the last thing on their minds after what they’ve been through.

‘Instead they simply want their treatment to start and redress for what’s happened to them or their loved ones. And they want lessons to be learned to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.’ 

Mrs Smith said the way the NHS reacted to the lockdown varied from trust to trust. 

While some coped well, moving their cancer care or surgery into Covid-secure private hospitals or treatment areas, others cancelled their lists.

She said in some cases letters were sent telling patients their tests had been cancelled or postponed ‘following clinical review’, whereas in reality no clinician had looked at their medical notes.

‘This gave patients false reassurance,’ she said. ‘There will be some people that accepted this and who may not have pushed for their diagnostic tests as a consequence.’

Professor Pat Price, a clinical oncologist, said in some hospitals radiotherapy machines were ‘lying idle which could have saved lives’.

She told the BBC: ‘It has been safe to give radiotherapy during Covid-19, we know that now. We were told not to do this. We are looking at a huge number of unavoidable deaths.’

Pensioner cashed in nest egg to go private

Carol Player was forced to cash in her pension and rely on donations to pay for emergency cancer treatment cancelled at short notice.

The grandmother, 57, was diagnosed with the ocular melanoma in 2015 and the eye cancer spread to her liver last year.

She was told the only treatment that would keep her alive would be chemosaturation – which isolates the liver and targets the tumour – and it was scheduled for March.

But the NHS clinical trial at Southampton Spire Hospital was cancelled because of Covid fears.

An oncologist said she could still have the treatment privately, but that it would cost £40,000 for each round of chemo.

Mrs Player, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, who worked as a hairdresser before her cancerous eye was removed, cashed in her pension to pay for one of four cycles of treatment she needs.

She said: ‘I’ve got a solicitor looking into my case. I want to claim my money back. I have no provisions now for when I am older. I feel my human rights have been taken away from me. I’ve paid into the NHS all my life so why aren’t I covered?’

After her first round of treatment, doctors found three tumours had disappeared and four had shrunk.

But despite this, Mrs Player did not know how she would raise £120,000 more to complete her treatment.

Her family rallied round, holding charity events and setting up a GoFundMe fundraising page. The total donated so far is £53,000 – enough for a second round.

Mrs Player said: ‘I am overwhelmed. I want to thank the public for helping me because without them I wouldn’t be here.’

Prostate patient told to wait 3 months for scan

A former NHS official had to pay £20,000 for emergency cancer treatment because NHS care was put on hold during the pandemic.

Rob McMahon, who was the chief executive of a primary care trust in Leicester, was diagnosed with prostate cancer after an MRI scan on March 19, four days before the start of lockdown.

The 68-year-old from Redditch, Worcestershire, was told he would have to wait up to three months for a biopsy scan – with medics saying he shouldn’t be worried as prostate cancer is ‘slow growing’.

Mr McMahon decided to pay for a private biopsy and a scan which showed he had a large tumour on both lobes of his prostate which was at risk of breaking out and spreading.

He immediately had his prostate removed at the private Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull, West Midlands, and three months later a blood test showed there was no sign of any cancer. 

He believes his outcome would have been different if he had waited for treatment on the NHS and is now preparing to take legal action.

He said: ‘I should not have had to pay for it. The NHS should have been capable of dealing with patients who had a serious diagnosis.

‘They were prepared to let me wait for three months and the cancer would have spread by then.

‘I had a close escape. They call this a timely intervention. I was let down because the NHS did not treat me.’

Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS, said: ‘On behalf of the trust I apologise to Mr McMahon if any aspect of his care fell below the high standards we set for ourselves. We are aware of Mr McMahon’s concerns and are liaising with his solicitors. It would therefore be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time.’  

Forced to beg for help after chemo was halted with four days’ notice

Wendy Peake had to beg strangers to fund her cancer treatment privately when the NHS cancelled her procedure.

The mother of two from Altrincham near Manchester has a rare eye cancer which has now spread to her liver, and her chemosaturation therapy was stopped with four days’ notice because of coronavirus.

Mrs Peake, 58, thought she was going to die until an oncologist told her she could still get treated privately at Southampton Spire Hospital, but at a cost of £40,000 a treatment.

She started selling jewellery and hair scrunchies she made at home with her daughters Arabella and India to help raise the £160,000 needed for four cycles of treatment.

It seemed like an impossible task. But thanks to her daughters, who set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe and went door to door to ask neighbours for help, more than £133,000 has been raised and she has had two rounds of treatment so far.

Mrs Peake says she is suing the NHS for the distress it caused – and, if she wins any money, could put it towards someone else’s treatment.

She added: ‘My objective is to get the funds back by whatever means necessary and that’s why I am suing the NHS. I have not really needed much on the health system at all and when I needed them the most, they abandoned me and left me to die.

‘I feel like I was expendable. I have just as much a right as a Covid patient to survive and live as do all the other cancer patients.

‘I would seriously consider funding someone else’s treatment, but we are a long way off that and we might not be successful in our action.’

Mrs Peake says the day she was told her treatment would be cancelled will never leave her. ‘I will never forget the wail my daughter let out,’ she added.

She says she is incredibly grateful to the strangers who have donated to her cause.

‘It saved an awful lot of worry and anxiety,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe we have done so well. There was this outpouring of disbelief at how cruel the situation was.’