MORE than £3million in damages has been paid out by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) in gynaecology medical negligence claims since 2019, new figures have revealed.
Data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist (MNA) has revealed the Trust, which runs the main hospitals in Coventry and Rugby, has had 25 claims and incidents of medical negligence related to gynaecology care in its facilities in that time.
Of those cases, UHCW has settled a total of 13 with damages amounting to more than £3,154,000 – not including NHS or claimant legal costs paid.
A spokesperson for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: “We always aim to deliver the highest possible standards of care for our patients.
“As one of the largest Trusts in the country, serving a population of more than one million, we deal with a wide range of complex gynaecological cases.
“On the rare occasions that things go wrong, we do everything we can to understand what happened, to learn lessons and make improvements, and to support those affected.”
MNA’s UK-wide investigation also uncovered the most common primary injuries and causes of claims, which included failure to act on abnormal test results, failed sterilisation and intraoperative problems – complications that affect patients during surgery.
The findings come alongside a damning new report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which revealed that women are being left in ‘debilitating’ pain for years, with more than 760,0000 on the waiting list for appointments due to a gynaecology care ‘crisis.’
The ROCG has urged the government to provide immediate support for those on waiting lists and commit to long-term funding to tackle the ‘systemic issues’ fuelling delays.
RCOG President Dr Ranee Thakar, of the said: “A way forward is urgently needed to tackle the UK gynaecology crisis.
“The RCOG is calling on the goverment to commit to long-term sustained funding to address the systemic issues driving waiting lists, alongside delivering an urgent support package for those currently on waiting lists.
“The investment will not only benefit thousands of individual women but the wider economy too, because the evidence shows that healthy women are the cornerstone of healthy societies. Get it right for women and everyone benefits.”
