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Understanding Cervical Cancer

• Boyes Turner

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Fran Rothwell and Tara Byrne both work as associate solicitors in the Medical Negligence team. In this podcast, they discuss cervical cancer prevention. 

Fran and Tara have extensive experience working with cervical cancer clients and talk to us about the common difficulties clients experience. They also expose the heart-wrenching outcomes of delayed diagnosis, with a focus on the emotional and physical toll it takes on patients, including the loss of fertility and the necessity of intensive treatments. 

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Fran Rothwell: 0:04

Hi, I'm Fran. I'm an Associate Solicitor in the Medical Negligence Team at Boy's Turner, so I've invited my colleague Tara, who's also an Associate in the Medical Negligence Team, to join me to speak about our experiences of cervical cancer cases and common difficulties that our clients experience. Thank you for joining me, tara. Thanks, no problem, fran. So we thought it might be helpful to talk about what we look at when we investigate a clinical negligence claim involving cervical cancer. Tara, are you able to take us through the legal tests involved with bringing a claim? Just as a bit of background information?

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 0:41

Yeah, of course, we have to prove that the standard of care a patient received fell below a reasonable standard and that the failings in the care caused an injury. To help with assessing the legal test, we obtain evidence from medical experts In cases involving cervical cancer. The medical experts that usually help us with our investigations are experts in the fields of histopathology or cytology. They're specialists in reporting smear test slides. We also instruct gynecological oncologists to consider what treatment might have been given at the time of diagnosis.

Fran Rothwell: 1:13

Thanks, Tara. That's certainly been my experience and it's so important in these cases to have the slides reviewed by an expert. You can assess whether the slides or the results have been misreported. I know that you've worked on a few cases involving cervical cancer, so could you describe some of the common themes and issues that you've seen in the cases you've been involved?

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 1:33

in. Some of the common issues we look into are around misreported histopathology, so this is when a smear test slide might be misreported as showing no abnormal cells. Sometimes we're looking at a lack of referral to a specialist when a person experiences symptoms that might be indicative of cervical cancer, and I've also been involved in cases where administrative errors occur in relation to screening invites and these issues ultimately result in a delay in diagnosis. I'm currently involved in a case with a young woman whose smear test was misreported, and I know you, fran, have had the same on your cases. I've also had a case where there was inadequate information and treatment provided when abnormal cells had been detected from a smear test and sadly, in my case, the correct steps weren't taken and our client didn't receive appropriate treatment, which resulted in her developing cervical cancer.

Fran Rothwell: 2:22

Yes, I've also had cases where there's been a failure to recognise the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. Yes, I've also had cases where there's been a failure to recognise the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer and this results in a failure to arrange a smear or arrange follow-up investigations into the symptoms, which again results in a delay in diagnosis and treatment. It might be helpful, tara, if we could summarise what some of the common signs and symptoms of cervical cancer are.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 2:47

So the common signs and symptoms are unusual vaginal bleeding, pain during sets and pain in your lower back and pelvis. We've had cases where these signs and symptoms weren't picked up on or given sufficient weight, and it's meant that referral to a specialist wasn't made, and time is really of the essence in these cases. In newer cases, fran, what have you seen by way of the impact of a late diagnosis of cervical cancer?

Fran Rothwell: 3:12

Yeah. So a late diagnosis of cervical cancer can mean that a person requires more extensive treatment than would otherwise have been the case, and that can have long term implications for their health and possibly fertility.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 3:26

And when we investigate a claim, we're aiming to recover compensation for the injury sustained and to cover the cost of future health care and treatment, among other things. Fran, are you able to take us through some of the experts we use when we look at those issues in these cases?

Fran Rothwell: 3:40

Yes, absolutely so. We will need expert evidence to comment on each specific set of circumstances, because everyone is an individual and, in my experience, each client is impacted differently by the delay in diagnosis and treatment. We may need to get reports from colorectal specialists on bowel issues, as well as reports from urology, gynecological, oncology and psychiatry experts. We need to think about what the future medical needs a person might have for the rest of their life.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 4:12

Is it possible to claim for future treatment costs?

Fran Rothwell: 4:15

Yes, absolutely so. Our clients are able to claim the cost of private medical treatment going forward, which is particularly beneficial. I've had certainly some clients who are naturally distrustful of the NHS after previous poor experiences. Private treatment is also beneficial because there are some treatment options that are not available unless they're privately sourced. The cost of ongoing monitoring can also be claimed, which is so beneficial in giving our clients peace of mind for the future.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 4:45

Yeah, and in particular because a lot of our clients are young women with their whole life ahead of them.

Fran Rothwell: 4:50

Yes, they are. And, in that vein, for those who want to start a family but might be unable to achieve this naturally because of the treatment required to treat their cancer, we can claim the costs associated with fertility treatment and surrogacy.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 5:06

Our clients often ask us if we can claim for the care they've required as a result of their symptoms.

Fran Rothwell: 5:12

Yes, that's right and it's important that we do. We may instruct a care expert to comment on the assistance our client has needed in the past, whether that be from family members or professionally. We also need to think about what they might be able to do in the future and whether we need to include the cost of replacing the services that they carried out before their diagnosis. I know, for example, utah had a client who was a young mother and required assistance with child care, and I had a client for whom simple things like claiming the cost of a cleaner and shopping delivery has made a real difference to her life and were things that she struggled with, and she struggled as a result of the treatment she needed at the time of her diagnosis that would not have been required with earlier treatment. We also consider any aids or equipment that might be needed.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 6:01

Some of our clients are now unable to work because of their symptoms, and so we can also claim for loss of earnings.

Fran Rothwell: 6:07

Yes, that's right. I've had clients whose future capacity to work has been significantly impacted by their diagnosis. In particular, for one of my clients, ongoing complications meant that she found even travelling to and from work was very difficult, particularly she was using public transport. In these cases we've claimed for loss of earnings to put our clients back into the position they would have been had the negligence not occurred.

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 6:34

And, as you've said, Fran, the effects of cervical cancer can be absolutely life changing and ongoing. One thing we've discussed is the development of the HPV vaccine and the rollout over the past decade or so and how they should hopefully lead to a decline in the future number of cervical cancer cases. However, we're still sadly seeing poor histopathology recording and other errors.

Fran Rothwell: 6:55

One of the charities we work with, called Joe's Trust, has a lot of information about the HPV vaccine and can provide a great deal of support for our clients whilst we investigate a medical negligence claim. We are pleased to be able to direct our clients such a great charity for support. We see day on day how devastating a delay in diagnosis of cervical cancer can be, and so we fully support the charity in this endeavour. So before we wrap things up, Tara, is there anything you'd like to?

Tara Pileggi-Byrne: 7:24

So I am hopeful that with screening, the HPV vaccine and awareness campaigns like the Jo's Trust one, we will see fewer rates of cervical cancer in the future and fewer people living with the consequences of the disease.

Fran Rothwell: 7:38

Absolutely. Thank you, Tara, for speaking with me today. Thanks, Fran. If you or anyone you know has experienced serious injury as a result of a delayed diagnosis of cancer, please do not hesitate to contact our team at Boys Turner so we can talk about what your options are. If you would like to hear more from our team at Boys Turner, please subscribe or follow our podcast.