One in four specialist appointments cancelled

The latest release of statistics by the National Health Service shows that 25% of patients are having their hospital appointments cancelled and moved back to a later date.

In 2011 some 23% of patients had their consultation with a specialist postponed once, twice or even three times. This being an increase on the last statistics from 2009.

The Care Quality Commission has also revealed that half of patients are waiting more than a month to receive their hospital appointment. Utmost one third (31%) of patients said that their symptoms got worse during this time. After the specialist appointment, 36% of patients said that they were not warned by either the doctor or a nurse about the potentially dangerous side effects of their medication.

Another 33% claim they were not told what ‘danger’ symptoms to look out for if their condition got worse. The same patients said that hospital staff did not bother to inform them who they should contact if they were worried about their illness or treatment.

We have a specialist clinical and medical negligence team who have undertaken numerous successful claims for patients involved in the negligent delay of treatment by the NHS or other healthcare provider.

For further information on the expertise of Linder Myers in dealing with the issue raised in this article please contact the Medical Negligence Team on 0844 984 6155/6.