Hospital admits cancer mistakes

Patients at Derriford Hospital are being offered advice

More than 130 breast cancer patients from the biggest hospital in the West Country face a "small risk" of their cancer returning after being given the wrong dose of radiotherapy.

Health managers at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, have admitted that 132 patients received a lower dose of radiotherapy than necessary after their operations, over a two-year period.

Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust offered its "sincere apologies" to the patients as letters were sent out to those affected.

The trust emphasised that not all breast cancer patients treated between April 1999 and July 2001 were given the wrong dose and that the mistake had been rectified.

Risk increased

The trust said that although a number of women who received cancer treatment during the period had since died the number was no more than would be expected.

"A number of patients have died from a variety of causes as would be expected over this period," said a hospital spokesman.

The number of women who had a local recurrence of breast cancer was no more than would have been expected without the under dose, he added.

"It will never be possible to say whether the local recurrence has been affected by the under dose, because the risk is always there."

The lower dose "added slightly" to the existing risk.

Managers said the mistake has been rectified

Terence Lewis, medical director of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "For the great majority of patients the increase in risk is so slight that the under dose will have no appreciable effect whatsoever.

"For a small group the increase in risk of local recurrence is slightly greater but still very small in relation to the underlying risk that the disease will recur in any case."

Measures of "double checks" had been put in place in an attempt to make sure no such error could happen again.

The error was spotted by medical physicists who calculate the radiotherapy dosages, added the trust spokesman.

Possible disciplinary action against medical staff involved has not yet been considered.

Appointments offered

The events were reviewed by the Royal College of Radiologists and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, and the trust was acting on the advice of experts nominated by them.

Executives confirmed that the error had been properly rectified and that all those treated since the beginning of August 2001 had received the correct dose of radiotherapy.

Patients affected are being offered appointments at the hospital over the next two weeks so that the position can be explained to them.

The trust has also written to 581 other patients, treated at Derriford during the April 1999 to July 2001 period, telling them they were given correct doses.

Mr Lewis said an investigation was launched as soon as the mistake was identified but it had been necessary to obtain "very detailed expert advice" before patients could be given an assessment of the implications for them.

"On the basis of expert advice we have calculated the increase in risk for each patient," he said.