Hospitals NHS Trust pays out over £3m for misdiagnosis claims involving cancer and fractures

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed Warrington and Halton NHS Hospitals Trust has paid out more than £3m for misdiagnosis claims involving cancer and fractures since 2019.

Figures obtained by Medical Negligence Assist found that, since 2019, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has had to pay out over £3m to patients who have lodged claims following a misdiagnosis.

Gareth Lloyd, medical negligence solicitor for JF Law (which owns the Medical Negligence Assist brand), said: “Misdiagnosis is an all-embracing clinical negligence case type and covers a wide range of clinical situations from the simple diagnosis of a fracture to potentially fatal cancer diagnoses.
“These cases can be a matter of life and death, and whether someone lives or dies will be determined by the success of the diagnosis.”
With an overstretched NHS, increasing patient numbers, and mounting pressures on staff, misdiagnoses are becoming alarmingly common.
When healthcare professionals fail to diagnose an illness or injury correctly, patients can endure painful and potentially fatal consequences due to not receiving the right medical care and treatment.
A person affected by misdiagnosis can, in some cases, make a medical negligence claim against the NHS.
Compensation is covered by insurance policies, meaning frontline care is unaffected by negligence claims.
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs two hospital sites and over 30 community hubs and facilities across the Halton and Warrington boroughs.
From 2019 to 2024, 75 claims regarding misdiagnoses were lodged against Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 58 of which were settled.
The highest number of claims came in 2019/20, when 21 claims were made against the Trust. A year later, this number decreased to 17 claims.
The service has seen the number of claims rise over the past year compared to 2022/23, with a total of 13.

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According to NHS Resolution, diagnostic errors contribute approximately 20% of all clinical negligence claims.
The reasons for misdiagnosis naturally vary from case to case, but NHS Resolution highlights two consistent failings across England, one of which is diagnostic errors, particularly early incorrect diagnoses of soft-tissue injuries.
The second is issues with requests for imaging, reporting, interpretation, and follow-up, including failure to complete further imaging, such as CT or MRI, as indicated in national guidance.
In 2023, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) conducted a study which found that around 1 in 18 patients in primary and secondary care are affected by misdiagnosis.
The BMJ also found that misdiagnosed cancers, strokes, and heart attacks were among the most serious cases, often leading to life-altering consequences or death.
Medical Negligence Assist obtained figures on how much Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has paid out to misdiagnosis claims since 2019.
Over the past five years, the trust has paid out a total of £3,003,006, with the highest amount coming in 2020/21, standing at £845,933.
Based on figures gathered by NHS Resolution, 8,067 claims have been lodged against NHS trusts around the country for misdiagnosis in the past five years, with 5,677 of these claims being settled.
The government department also revealed the most common injuries and outcomes that resulted from misdiagnosis claims against Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The most common outcome for misdiagnosis claims was fractures, which were lodged 11 times, with the trust paying £538,502 in compensation, followed by cancer and unnecessary pain, which both saw 10 claims submitted.
Speaking to Medical Negligence Assist, Gareth Lloyd said: “Misdiagnosis can have a huge impact on people’s lives. A common case of misdiagnosis is a scaphoid fracture, where typically someone uses their hands to break a fall.
“I’ve had a specific case in the past whereby a man in his early twenties suffered a fractured scaphoid that was initially diagnosed as a sprained wrist.
“As it went undiagnosed for a number of months, the client ended up having a fixation of his wrist, resulting in him not being able to use the hand and, as a consequence, has not been able to continue with his job.”
Medical Negligence Assist offers support to patients who may have suffered harm as a result of a misdiagnosis and can see if they have grounds to submit a claim.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and online claim form, which you can access on their website.

In response to the findings, Ali Kennah, Chief Nurse for Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “At Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals ensuring patients receive safe and effective care is of the greatest importance to us.
“Where an incident occurs, we follow national policy to record it, undertake a full investigation to understand and learn from what happened, and are committed to being open and transparent with patients and their families about what has gone wrong.”