The NHS scandals which 'damaged so many lives' revealed in damning report

An independent review found thousands of victims’ lives had been damaged because the healthcare system failed to respond quickly enough when serious concerns were raised.

A Lancashire mother, who has been fighting for 17 years to get justice for her severely handicapped daughter, described the inquiry’s findings as “shocking” and said: “This definitely isn’t the end of the fight, it is only the beginning.”

Samantha Scott-Edgar, from Buckshaw Village near Chorley, is one of 20,000 parents in the UK who blame the epilepsy drug sodium valproate for damaging their child in the womb.

Daughter Faith was born with severe problems after doctors assured Samantha it was safe to take the drug during pregnancy.

Talking about today’s report, which took two years to complete, she said: “I’m not 100 per cent happy with it, given the disabilities my daughter has got.

“I think it has highlighted a lot of things, but it is a typical government reaction to a problem.

“And I don’t think it will benefit us in the slightest.”

The review examined how the health service responded to concerns over three treatments - sodium valporate, pelvic mesh and hormone pregnancy tests such as Primodos.

The inquiry found that the NHS did not know how many women had been affected by the three scandals.

And it detailed “heart-wrenching stories” of how treatments provided on the NHS had “damaged lives” and highlighted how campaigners have fought for decades to get acknowledgement of their suffering.

“We met with hundreds of affected patients and their families.

“It became all too clear that those who have been affected have been dismissed, overlooked and ignored for far too long,” says the report. And it adds that the problems were widespread.

It said: “The issue here is not one of a single or a few rogue medical practitioners, or differences in regional practice. It is system-wide.”

More than 700 families from across the UK affected by the issues gave “harrowing details of their damaged lives,” which Baroness Cumberlege, chairwoman of the review, described as “heart-wrenching stories of acute suffering, families fractured, children harmed and much else.”

In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Baroness Cumberlege said: “We have found that the healthcare system - in which I include the NHS, private providers, the regulators and professional bodies, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, and policymakers - is disjointed, siloed, unresponsive and defensive.

“It does not adequately recognise that patients are its raison d’etre.

“It has failed to listen to their concerns.”

The review, launched in 2018, made a series of recommendations including the appointment of an independent Patient Safety Commissioner, a call for the Government to issue an immediate “fulsome apology” to the families affected and a register for all “financial and non-pecuniary interests for all doctors”.