7,000 serious errors in a decade at NHS Hospital

A review of biopsies carried out at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) indicates that almost 7,000 serious errors could have been made over the course of a decade at NHS hospital.

When the whistle-blowers raised the concerns of misdiagnosis, an investigation examined 26 specific allegations out that only 7 of the diagnosis were correct.The doctors had raised concerns with managers about the standards of pathology at the hospital, following a number of misdiagnoses.

Buried in an annexe to the inquiry's report was an admission that an audit of a further 3,500 cases found that in 3.4 per cent of them, independent pathologists who re-examined the samples believed the wrong diagnosis had been made.

With the hospital examining more than 20,000 specimens a year, the figures could represent up to 6,800 blunders over a decade.

In a report submitted to the inquiry, Prof Peter Furness, then President of the Royal College of Pathologists called for all the cases involving discrepancies to be re-reviewed, in order to establish definitive error rates – which require three opinions. Yet that was never done.

Instead the inquiry, paid for by the hospital, said it had found no evidence the overall service was not safe, when it reported in December 2010.No action was taken against any pathologists about whom concerns had been raised.Now, patient campaigners have written an open letter to the chairman of the inquiry, exposing the figures. They fear that plans to merge the BRI pathology unit with services across the city could put a larger population at risk.