£1.3m funding set aside to deal with 'rheumatology incident'

Thursday 21 December 2023

The Government set aside £1.3million of funding for "costs related to a rheumatology incident" – just one month after an external review of the department uncovered evidence of "inappropriate prescribing" and "systemic governance problems".

A recently published 'letter of comfort' shows that Health Chief Chris Bown reached out to Treasury Minister Ian Gorst earlier this year to request £1.3million to "conduct investigative work and address the wider implications that may arise" from the so-called "rheumatology incident".

Letters of comfort are notes expressing an intention to provide financial support which are not legally binding. They are used when there is an urgent need for expenditure, but a full business case cannot be provided or considered due to time constraints. 

In the letter, which was made public following a request by Express under the Freedom of Information Law, Deputy Gorst said that the £1.3million represents the "worst-case scenario for likely expenditure needs" and estimates that "actual spending on this area" is likely to be lower than is projected.

The Government confirmed that the letter of comfort is related to the recent review of the Rheumatology Department, but did not provide a breakdown of how the £1.3million figure was calculated and what it was expected to cover.

CLICK TO READ IN FULL: The letter of comfort promised access to £1.3million of funding for "costs related to a rheumatology incident".

The letter – dated 16 June 2023 – came shortly after after initial findings from the Royal College of Physicians' report revealed evidence of "inappropriate prescribing" to some patients and poor record-keeping when they were published in May.

At the time, the Health Minister admitted that this initial feedback highlighted "some systemic governance problems in the rheumatology service that are likely to be present in other parts of Health".

Just this week, local law firm Viberts confirmed that it was acting for "multiple claimants" with potential clinical negligence claims against the Rheumatology Department – and that they may pursue a "potential class action" lawsuit, if more patients who were impacted come forward. The Government declined to comment on this when approached by Express.

Pictured: Health Minister Karen Wilson admitted that the systemic governance problems in the rheumatology service are likely to be present in other parts of Health.

Following a recommendation from the Royal College of Physicians, the Health Department also conducted its own internal audit of rheumatology patient records earlier this year.

Published in August, the preliminary findings of this internal audit found that more than 170 individuals did not meet the accepted criteria to be prescribed powerful drugs known as biologics which suppress the immune system and increase susceptibility to infection.

Rheumatology patients said they were left feeling “frightened” and “in the dark” due to “shambolic” communication from Health after the audit's findings were made public.

It was confirmed that the two doctors at the centre of the review were "no longer undertaking clinical work".

At the time, Government officials declined to confirm whether the doctors were still officially employed or not but it later emerged that that senior rheumatology doctor Dr Michael Richardson's clinical practice remained restricted as a result of a recent General Medical Council hearing.

Pictured: Rheumatology deals with arthritis and several other conditions that affect the joints, tendons, muscle, ligaments.

Express recently revealed that the publication of the Royal College of Physicians' external review of the Rheumatology Department had been pushed back until next year.

The external report was expected to be made public at the end of September.

The Government confirmed that a draft report has now been received from the Royal College of Physicians, but explained that Health and Community Services will now conduct a fact check before sharing the findings of the report in the new year.

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