A report from Medical Negligence Assist looks at the number of medical negligence claims relating to gynaecology that have been lodged against NHS Trusts in England in the past five years.
With stretched services, struggling staff and dwindling resources, a report published in late November by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) revealed the true scale and impact of the UK’s gynaecology care crisis. It estimates that more than 750,000 women are waiting for months and years with serious gynaecological conditions.
“UK governments must act now. The RCOG is calling on them to commit to long-term, sustained funding to address the systemic issues driving waiting lists, alongside delivering an urgent support package for those currently on waiting lists,” says Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the RCOG.
Medical Negligence Assist, a specialist service providing legal support to victims of medical errors, has looked into the issue and examined the number of medical negligence claims relating to gynaecology that have been lodged against NHS Trusts in England in the last five years between 2019 and 2024.
It found that across the NHS, 1,337 gynaecology medical negligence claims were lodged for “unnecessary pain” and a further 740 for additional or unnecessary operations. Some 151 claims were lodged with the primary injury recorded as “cancer” and as well as 143 separate claims for “bowel damage and/or dysfunction”.
The most common cause of a claim was “Failure to warn – informed consent” regarding gynaecology treatment of which there were 1,324 claims and incidents across NHS Trust in the last five years. Of those, 292 claims were settled with damages payouts hitting £17.3 million.
Failure in diagnosis
Claims lodged against the NHS for “failure and delays in gynaecology-related diagnosis” however, resulted in the largest damages payouts.
Since 2019, there have been 384 claims and incidents on the issue of which 272 claims have been settled by the NHS with damages hitting £32.6 million.
In terms of the trusts themselves, although Liverpool’s Women Hospital NHS FT had the greatest number of complaints and incidents in the period (83), the greatest damages paid came from the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust which paid out £17.3 million from 33 claims.
“The state of gynaecology waiting lists in the UK is a crisis that demands immediate attention. Millions of people are waiting for non-cancer hospital gynaecological care, many are suffering with severe pain and heavy bleeding, the impact on their physical and mental health is devastating,” says Jane Plumb, RCOG women’s voices lead.
