Analysis of 11 years of clinical negligence claims in esophagogastric cancer in England

Abstract

In the National Health Service (NHS), clinical negligence claims and associated compensations are constantly rising. The aim of this study is to identify the size, trends, and causes of litigations claims in relation to esophagogastric (EG) cancer in the NHS. Data requests were submitted to the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) for the period of January 2003 to December 2013. Data were reviewed, categorized clinically, and analyzed in terms of causes and costs behind claims. In this time period, there were 163 claims identified from the NHSLA database. Ninety-five (58.3%) claims were successful with a pay out of £6.25 million. An increasing overall claim frequency and success rate were found over the last few years. Majority of the claims were from gastric cancer 84 (88.4%). The commonest cause of complaint in successful claims was delay or failure in diagnosis (21.1%) and treatment (17.9%). There were only 10.5% successful intraoperative claims, of which 50% were due to unnecessary or additional procedures. The frequency and success rates of malpractice claims in EG cancer are rising. The failure or delay in diagnosing and treatment in EG malignancy are the common cause for successful litigation claims. The findings further reinforce the need to improve early diagnosis.