Breast cancer staff unable to speak up, boss says

The NHS trust issued an apology in July

A serious failure in breast cancer care at a hospital trust has been blamed on a multitude of factors including staff not feeling able to speak up, a council has been told.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust issued an apology in July after it said some women received "more extensive surgery than was clinically necessary".

Some of the factors behind the errors were outlined by trust officials to Durham County Council.

Nursing executive director Kathryn Burn said there was evidence of staff raising concerns, which were "discouraged or un-responded to". The trust previously said it had instigated a patient safety investigation and was looking back on all relevant cases.

More than 200 cases of patients affected by failings at the breast cancer service have been identified so far.

However, the trust has said there could be thousands of cases dating back to 2019, mainly at the University Hospital of North Durham . A number of deaths also being investigated.

A Royal College of Surgeons (RGS) review into the service revealed several errors such as cancers being missed and mastectomies that may not have been necessary.

The foundation trust says the cases it has identified so far were mainly at the University Hospital of North Durham

At the meeting on Tuesday, the trust said the RGS review and a review by the Northern Cancer Alliance had found several factors behind the errors.

This included the fact the breast cancer service had not faced the growth in demand it experienced with "robust job planning". This led to an over-reliance on outsourcing and insourcing, it said.

The trust said its breast cancer department had experienced an "under-investment" in staff and equipment, and there was a lack of "reflection and learning" following complaints.

Ms Burn also told the Reform UK-led council that the leadership teams, both at a clinical and governance level, "did not work effectively to respond to concerns, behaviours [or] escalate issues and ensure follow through on actions agreed".

She said some of the ignored complaints from staff involved concerns involving issues about "team dynamics, behaviours and poor practices", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The trust has previously said it had appointed two new consultant breast surgeons, invested in modern equipment and strengthened both its multidisciplinary team processes and clinical governance arrangements following the review.