Patients ‘severely harmed’ by hospital losing track of records

 Patients suffered “severe harm” after a hospital lost track of its waiting lists, a report has found.

St George’s Hospitals Foundation Trust has reviewed millions of files after discovering that its records did not determine whether patients had completed treatment or were in need of further checks. As a result, a clinical harm review examined 646 cases in detail and has now found that 15 patients suffered “severe harm” – meaning “permanent or long-term” damage – with a further four suffering moderate harm. A trust spokesman said decisive action had been taken to tackle the waiting list problems since they were first identified in 2016. The hospital can now track patients on waiting lists at St George’s Hospital to prioritise treatment correctly. Since the failings were uncovered, more than two years ago, the trust has found thousands more cases of patients whose cases were “lost to follow up” and were at high risk of clinical harm.

The trust sent letters to almost 19,000 patients to check on them. It has only heard back from one in four of the patients thought to be involved.