The scale of the problem emerged as it was disclosed that the NHS has paid out almost £50 million in negligence claims related to cancer since 1995.

In total 502 cases of cancer were missed in 2006-7, an increase of almost 20 per cent on the previous year’s 433.

The number of mistakes made in treating patients who had been correctly diagnosed also rose.

Errors in chemotherapy treatment increased by 1.3 per cent to 6,344.

There were 1,854 mistakes in radiotherapy treatment, a rise of 2.6 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Since the mid 1990s there have been 1,179 clinical cancer negligence cases against the NHS.

The labour Government has paid £47 million in compensation but there is another £50 million outstanding.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “It is right that NHS patients should be able to obtain correct and full compensation. An increase in reported patient safety incidents is not a sign that the NHS is less safe for patients – quite the reverse.

From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/11/nmeds511.xml