The Blackpool Gazette reports this week that a Freedom of Information request has revealed that between April 2012 and March 2013 191 claims for negligence were lodged against Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the trust responsible for Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

The article also notes that the total number of claims against the hospital that are currently being dealt with is 476.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was not one of those trusts put into special measures as a result of the Keogh Review and the trust maintains that people should not have concerns about being treated at the hospital.

The trust has published information on its safety review on its website, which states that their objective is to "achieve a culture of zero tolerance towards avoidable patient harm.

As solicitors specialising in clinical negligence, the team at JMW deals with cases from all over the country and we have handled several cases relating to treatment received at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

It is of course very worrying for local people when there are a high number of claims made against a hospital on which they rely. However we can only hope that the management team at Blackpool is taking every possible step to ensure any issues at the hospital are addressed and that patient safety is its number one priority.

By bringing a claim, patients can help to highlight the poor care they have faced to the hospital Trust and hopefully help to ensure the same situation is not repeated.

This is particularly relevant when there is more than one claim relating to the same error; for example, failure to correctly interpret an ultrasound scan. This can be indicative of the failure of an individual or a team to meet required standards and if the patients on the receiving end of this poor care take action it can lead to an improvement in the overall service.