It has been reported that 79 women have been recalled to Sherwood Forest Hospitals after problems with breast tissue biopsies were identified. All of the affected women had already been diagnosed with breast cancer but there were problems with further tests used to ascertain the most effective treatments.
Cancer Testing At Sherwood Forest Hospitals
The women who underwent breast tissue biopsies between 2004 and 2010 were given the wrong information on what type of breast cancer they had. They were wrongly told they had oestrogen-receptor negative breast cancer, when they were actually oestrogen-receptor positive.
It is thought an error in preparing the slides containing breast cancer tissue was to blame. It is not clear how many, if any, women have died as a result of testing errors.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced that it will be carrying out an urgent investigation into breast cancer testing at the Trust. Their inspection team will include experts in breast screening, pathology and clinical governance.
In addition, Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts has raised concerns over the Trust’s finances and has appointed an interim chairman following the resignation of the Trust’s chairman, Tracey Doucet, last week. A spokesman for Monitor said that they were using their formal regulatory powers of intervention because they were “concerned that the Trust has failed to get to grips with the strength of the problems it faces”. The Trust made a loss of £5.9m in the first quarter of 2012 and failed to deliver recurrent savings of £10m in the past year.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was awarded Foundation Trust status in 2007 and serves a population of 418,000 people across Nottinghamshire as well as parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
It is worrying to note that a number of women may not have undergone accurate testing. It is hoped that the urgent and extensive reviews being undertaken by Monitor and the CQC will quickly identify those women affected and provide them with the appropriate treatment and support.
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