MORE than 60 rheumatology patients who have been subject to “potential harm” have now received formal letters from the Health Department following a damning review which found that hundreds of Islanders were misdiagnosed and wrongly given powerful drugs.
A progress report submitted to the Health Advisory Board yesterday revealed that all 2,270 patients treated by Dr X and Dr Y – the two doctors at the centre of the Royal College of Physicians’ rheumatology review – between January 2019 and January 2022 have had their cases reviewed.
Sixty-two of these patients were subject to “potential harm” and have therefore received “duty of candour” letters.
A duty of candour letter is provided to service users, their family, or carers after something has gone wrong with their healthcare.
Last year, medical director Patrick Armstrong acknowledged that some of these patients may wish to take legal action and confirmed that the Health Department was “developing an approach to legal matters”.
He explained that a pilot group of rheumatology patients was being used to facilitate settlement offers in respect of the wider group of affected Islanders.
At the time, the medical director said that the department hoped to make any such settlement offers by the end of last year, either on a case-by-case basis or by way of a general compensation scheme.
However, the latest report states that it is “impossible at this stage to identify an indicative time by which all claims will be satisfactorily resolved” due to this being contingent on other parties such as medical defence organisations and legal representatives acting for claimants.
The report noted that the Health Department’s review of rheumatology can only look at medical harm. Patients who feel they have experienced other types of harm, such as financial loss or psychological distress, are urged to seek independent legal advice.
The most recent progress report also revealed that Health Minister Tom Binet has agreed a “prescription amnesty” with insurers, meaning that rheumatology patients will have until 2027 to take legal action against Health.
Under Jersey law, prescription is similar to statutes of limitations – the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated.
There are no comprehensive statutes of limitations in Jersey, but prescription is a matter of customary law and precedent.
The report submitted to the Health Advisory Board stated: “The cohort of rheumatology claims is being actively progressed and a ‘prescription amnesty’ has been agreed by the minister/our insurers until 2027 (reserving the right to raise the point should the claim already be prescribed).”
This means that, although the time limit for claims has been extended until 2027, the Health Department is reserving the right to argue against a claim if it has already passed its legal time limit.
