Statement on Royal College of Physicians report on interstitial lung disease (ILD)
In 2024, we commissioned the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) to convene an independent panel of experts and undertake a formal review of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) under the care of a consultant at St Helier Hospital, who is no longer employed by the Trust.
The RCP has now completed its review and has provided its report to us.
Dr Richard Jennings, Group Chief Medical Officer, said: “I offer my sincere apologies to our patients and their families for the harm this has caused – the care they received fell far below what should have been given.
“While the Royal College of Physicians’ report makes it clear that patients were significantly harmed, it also expresses confidence in the changes we had already made to make the service safe, and we have accepted and acted on all of their recommendations. We have contacted patients or their families to share the findings, apologise, and offer further support.”
ILD is a broad group of serious lung conditions. The majority of patients are diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which has a life expectancy of about 3-3.5 years.
You can read the report in full.
