Have a question? Call us on 0800 1979 345
This article was published on April 1st, 2015
People are living longer and now national data predicts that 50% of people are expected to have to battle cancer at some stage in their lives. To increase chances of survival, cancer needs to be diagnosed quickly and treated quickly. Some cancers are so aggressive that delays to treatment can mean the difference between life and death which is why the NHS has strict targets on diagnosis and treatment.
If a GP suspects that a patient may have a cancer then they immediately refer them to Hospital for more accurate tests to confirm diagnosis, which should happen within 14 days of referral. This is not happening in Lincolnshire where the 14 day targets are being missed.
Between October 2014 and January 2015, only 88.8 per cent of patients in the county were seen within the two-week target -The government expects the figures to be at least 93 per cent. More alarmingly the figures for suspected breast cancer patients showed only 58.5% of patients were seen within 14 days.
Health bosses blame increases in demand, tight budgets and staff shortages but is this the case?
Chief executive at Healthwatch Lincolnshire, Sarah Fletcher, said:
“These stats are alarming and concerning with regard to patients’ safety and their ability to access treatment. There’s more work that needs to be done around how patients are supported, and the need for patients to get treatment and assessment as early as possible.
“Early diagnosis is absolutely essential with cancer.
“Patients in Lincolnshire need to be able to access services and issues such as transport are a major concern.
“If someone’s referred to an appointment out of the county then they need to work out how they are going to get there.
“Faced with a lengthy journey, on top of having to sit there and go through their diagnoses and having to come back home, it’s a daunting prospect for everyone.
“So the process needs to be as simple and as supportive as possible.”
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust blames the increased number of cancer referrals and ongoing staffing issues for not hitting targets:
Michelle Rhodes, Trust Ops Director, said:
“The trust has a number of unfilled vacancies for radiologists. The main obstacle to achieving faster results and treatment is this severe shortage.
“This is a national problem, and the trust is working hard to recruit radiologists from other countries.
“We have recently appointed three consultant radiologists who start working for the trust from March and we continue to recruit from aboard.
“This increase in senior doctors will help us meet targets in the future.”
According to the Trust there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of GP referrals with a 51 per cent from 2009 to 2014 within the East Midlands.
“Both of these factors have placed increased pressure on services. This increase in senior clinical staffing will help the trust to meet the NHS constitutional standards in the future.”
If you think you have been misdiagnosed or had delayed diagnosis or delayed cancer treatment then contact our specialist Clinical Negligence Solicitors to find out if you have a viable claim. Our NHS Hospitals do a great job most of the time but every now and again a patient received unacceptable medical care. If you think you may be one of the few who have been let down by your health service then you need to contact our specialist medical negligence solicitors to see if you are eligible for a compensation claim.
We pride ourselves in client care, taking the proceedings at a pace you feel comfortable with and making sure you feel that you have someone on your side. Give us a call on freephone 0800 1979 345 and get free NHS negligence legal advice.
Our solicitors offer a free initial interview in order to review your specific circumstances and assess the viability of your claim.
This website privacy notice sets out how Thorneycroft Solicitors uses and protects any information that you give Thorneycroft Solicitors when you use this website.
Thorneycroft Solicitors is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Thorneycroft Solicitors may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 01/05/2018.
What we collect
We may collect the following information:
We will collect the information directly from you via completion of our enquiry form on the website.
What we do with the information we gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
We will also collect and process your personal data if you have consented to receiving marketing in respect of our services. You are able to unsubscribe or withdraw your consent at any time by emailing [email protected] or writing to ‘Marketing’ at Thorneycroft Solicitors, 9a Bridge Street Mills, Bridge Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 6QA.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Retention
If you do not instruct us in relation to your legal matter, your personal details will be retained for a period of 12 months.
If we are instructed in relation to your legal matter, we will keep it in line with our data retention periods. Details of our retention period for your legal matter can be found within our Client Care Letter and/or Terms of Business, under the heading file retention.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Your Rights
Google AdWords
This website uses the Google AdWords remarketing service to advertise on third party websites (including Google) to previous visitors to our site. It could mean that we advertise to previous visitors who haven’t completed a task on our site, for example using the contact form to make an enquiry. This could be in the form of an advertisement on the Google search results page, or a site in the Google Display Network. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the website. Of course, any data collected will be used in accordance with our own privacy policy and Google’s privacy policy.
You can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Preferences page, and if you want to you can opt out of interest-based advertising entirely by cookie settings or permanently using a browser plugin.
×