Message from Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Timely access to planned care is a priority for all our patients. Unfortunately, we have identified 8,849 patients waiting to be seen by Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists whose referrals have not been correctly managed in line with NHS waiting time standards. We are very sorry that as a result of this, these patients have experienced an unnecessary delay for their care.

This service is provided by Medway NHS Foundation Trust at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham and Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford. The patients impacted include 4,279 adults and children predominantly in the Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley, Bexley and Greenwich areas awaiting a first outpatient appointment, and 4,570 existing patients awaiting a follow-up appointment, diagnostic test or procedure in the same area.

When these referrals were first received, they were reviewed by a clinician and assessed as routine, meaning that no urgent concerns, such as cancer, were identified at the time.

We are contacting patients to apologise and make arrangements for them to seen as quickly as possible. We have begun to see patients in clinic and are making more appointments available.

We have taken immediate action to ensure referrals to this service are correctly managed, with stronger oversight and improved systems in place. A full, independent investigation has been commissioned to understand how the error occurred and if anyone has come to harm as a result of these unnecessary delays. We are committed to learning from this so that it does not happen again.

We are sorry that as a result of this, wait times for patients referred to our ENT service will get longer. Patients will continue to be prioritised according to clinical need, using the information provided to us as part of the referral.

There is no change to the process for patients referred via a two week wait (suspected cancer) route. Routine referrals from primary care should continue to be sent to us through the electronic referral service. If patients have any questions about existing referrals, please ask them to contact us on 01634 976656 or by emailing medwayft.entdvhpatients@nhs.net

Advice for patients

We are very sorry for this unnecessary delay to your care and any distress this may have caused.

If you are affected by this delay, you will receive a letter from us next week.

You can get in touch with us by emailing medwayft.entdvhpatients@nhs.net or by phoning 01634 976656 (Monday to Friday during office hours).

Once again, we apologise for this error and thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we work to correct it.