'All-clear' patients have cancer

The hospital said it had now increased its cross-checking of samples

Seventeen patients who were told they did not have cancer were later informed they had the disease after a mix-up.

Hereford County Hospital announced in February more than 4,500 people would need their cases re-examined after mistakes in a laboratory came to light.

A further 14 patients, some of whom underwent radiotherapy, were told they had cancer when they did not.

A consultant has been suspended after the tissue sample errors were made between May 2006 and August 2007.

Cancer Research UK said the situation was "extremely unfortunate and distressing" for patients.

Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Martin Woodford said he wanted to apologise "personally and on behalf of the trust" to all the patients affected "by this regrettable situation".

He added: "No patients that we have been able to identify have died as a result of a misdiagnosis.

We need to make absolutely sure this cannot happen again Hereford MP Paul Keetch

"However, a number of patients are undergoing treatment and we cannot definitively say they will not be affected later on. It would be misleading the public to say so."

Hereford MP Paul Keetch said he had been contacted by constituents who had been told their conditions were not as serious as first thought.

He said they had been "distressed" at what had happened.

Mr Keetch added he had written to Health Secretary Alan Johnson demanding that care for the wrongly-diagnosed patients would be "an absolute priority".

He said: "The one bit of good news out of this whole thing is that although it should not have happened in the first place, the problem was identified, and we need to make absolutely sure this cannot happen again."

Improved checks

BBC Midlands Today health correspondent Michele Paduano said the hospital's histopathology department, which studies tissue for evidence of disease, had not double-checked all the samples.

The samples, which were wrongly analysed, included biopsies, surgical specimens and cell samples, but no blood or urine tests, swabs or X-rays.

The problems were brought to light by one of the consultant's colleagues.

A spokeswoman for the trust said it took immediate action to investigate once concerns were raised.

She added as a result it had increased its cross-checking and quality control procedures to avoid similar incidents happening again.

A total of 40 patients who were recalled were told their conditions were worse than they originally thought - and 62 people were given the news that their illness was less serious than feared.

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said it was "extremely unfortunate and distressing news".

She added: "It's vital that robust systems are put in place at Hereford County Hospital to stop this happening again.

"It's also important to remember that incidences like this are very rare."