Cancer patients may be at risk due to overburdened NHS staff, the ombudsman has warned
Cancer patients in England could be at risk because NHS staff are overstretched and exhausted, the official complaints body has warned.
The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman, which investigates complaints about public services and the NHS in England, said that between April 2020 and December 2023, 185 of 1,019 investigations involving patients with cancer were upheld or partially upheld.
One substantiated complaint related to Sandra Eastwood from York, who died in May 2022 after a delayed diagnosis of a rare cancer of the digestive system called Gist, which has a 95% survival rate when treated. The investigation found that Eastwood’s scans had not been interpreted correctly, causing her to miss treatment.
“We discovered that if Mrs Eastwood had been diagnosed when she had the scans, her Yeast may not have spread and she may have been a candidate for surgery. By the time she was diagnosed, this was no longer an option,” the report said, adding that Eastwood also experienced poor pain management in the final months of her life.
Most complaints related to issues surrounding diagnosis and treatment, including delays and mismanagement of conditions. However, some were related to poor communication and end-of-life care.
Rob Behrens, the ombudsman, said the underlying problem originated in staffing levels. “Everyone deserves safe and effective care. But patient safety will always be at risk in environments with understaffed, exhausted staff and unsustainable pressure,” he said.
The NHS long-term workforce plan was published in 2023, with proposals including training thousands of extra doctors and nurses in England every year. The plan was welcomed by many experts as ambitious, but already overdue.
However, the ombudsman, who published a report last year calling for a fully funded workforce plan with cross-party support, said the latest proposals had no financial backing.
Behrens added that money needed to be put into staffing to maintain patient safety. He said: “We need coordinated and sustained action from government to ensure that NHS leaders can prioritize and be accountable for patient safety. A key part of this is investing in the workforce, today and for the long term, including providing full funding for the long-term workforce plan.”
Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, also said long-term solutions are needed. “These findings expose the alarming impact of limited resources on patients,” he said. “At a time when demand for services has never been higher, the NHS is facing a workforce shortage of more than 110,000 people. Trust leaders are doing everything they can to ensure timely, high-quality care for patients – their number one priority – but their efforts must be supported nationally.”
Hartley added that the impact of budget cuts and outdated equipment and IT systems on patients should not be ignored. “Trust leaders welcomed the NHS funding increase announced at the spring budget, but deep-seated challenges require long-term solutions,” he said.
“The government must commit to fully funding the long-term workforce plan and securing sustainable investment in capital and digital infrastructure. This way, the NHS will be well equipped to deliver the high-quality care that patients need and deserve.”
Eastwood’s husband John, 79, said he was disgusted by the treatment she received in hospital. “It seemed like the medical teams weren’t communicating with each other and everything felt very disjointed. They left her in agony for months before she died,” he said.
“The whole experience was very distressing and that is why I went to the ombudsman. I didn’t want this to happen to anyone else. If the hospital staff had read the scans correctly and operated, my wife could have stayed here for another five to ten years.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The NHS has seen and treated record numbers of cancer patients over the last two years and cancer is more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage, with survival rates improving for almost all types.
“We have invested £2.3 billion in accelerating diagnosis and launched 154 community diagnostic centers across England.
“The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will increase the number of healthcare professionals diagnosing and treating cancer, doubling the number of adult medical and nursing training places.”