Consultants blow whistle on 10,000 ‘hidden’ follow-up cases amid trust merger

An acute trust is reviewing thousands of gastroenterology cases for possible patient harm, after details emerged of an ‘extremely concerning’ list of patients who have not had follow-up appointments for up to six years since being treated.

HSJ understands major concerns have been raised internally at Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust, over 9,500 patients who received treatment at Aintree University Hospital as far back as 2015, but have not had a follow-up appointment.

Whistleblowers have also contacted the Care Quality Commission, which has confirmed it is looking into the issues.

Well-placed sources said around 7,000 of the cases have “target dates” for an outpatient follow-up that are in the past. Around 20 of these cases were supposed to be seen in 2015 or 2016, with around 400 dating back to 2017, and around 900 to 2018, the sources said.

The remaining 2,500 cases either have no target date or have not yet had a follow-up appointment booked.

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Source: HSJ, 8 April 2021