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Rheumatology patients who have been subject to "potential harm" will begin to receive letters this week following the damning review of Jersey's rheumatology department which found that hundreds of islanders had been misdiagnosed and wrongly given powerful drugs.
Published at the start of 2024, the Royal College of Physicians' full review of the island's rheumatology department "found the standard of care to be well below what the review team would consider acceptable for a contemporary rheumatological service".
The report revealed a "lack of governance, not just in rheumatology but across the healthcare organisation".
Now, rheumatology patients who have been subject to "potential harm" are set to receive a 'duty of candour' letter.
Pictured: Rheumatology deals with arthritis and several other conditions that affect the joints, tendons, muscle, ligaments.
The first letters will be sent out this week and all affected patients will receive one by mid-July, according to the Health department.
A duty of candour letter is provided to service users, their family, or carers after something has gone wrong with their care.
Health and Community Services said: “The first set of duty of candour letters will be sent to patients of the Rheumatology Department this week.
"We expect to complete the sending of duty of candour letters to patients where the review of past care and treatment identified that potential harm may have been caused by mid-July.
"Once these letters have been sent, a letter further will be sent to all patients that have been part of this review to provide them with a further update.”
Although HCS did not confirm how many patients would receive one of the letters, law firm Viberts said it was dealing with more than 110 inquiries from rheumatology patients with a potential claim against the Health department earlier this year.
Pictured: Interim Chief Officer of Health, Chris Bown with the Royal College of Physicians' review of Jersey's rheumatology department.
Duty of candour legislation is used by healthcare providers across the UK to ensure that they are open and transparent with people who use their services.
It sets out some specific requirements providers must follow when things go wrong with care and treatment, including informing people about the incident, providing reasonable support, providing truthful information and an apology when things go wrong.
According to the General Medical Council, "every health and care professional must be open and honest with patients and people in their care when something that goes wrong with their treatment or care causes, or has the potential to cause, harm or distress".
This means that health and care professionals must:
However, the GMC stipulates that apologising to a patient does not mean admitting legal liability.
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