Litigation in thyroid surgery: a pan-specialty review of National Health Service (UK) data

Thyroid surgery carries risks that significantly impact patients. This paper describes the landscape of thyroid surgery related litigation claims in the National Health Service from April 2015 to April 2020, to establish learning points in order to improve patient care and minimise litigation risk.

Data were requested from National Health Service Resolution and Hospital Episode Statistics. Claims were classified into operative and non-operative causes. Subspecialty information, incident details and claim costings were analysed.

Sixty claims were identified. Thirty-eight claims (63.3 per cent) were closed, with an average total claim cost of £68 816 and average damages paid of £36 349. Claims related to diagnostic issues were most common (n = 19); of claims associated with operative causes (n = 30), those relating to nerve injury were most common (n = 8), with issues of nerve monitoring and consent being cited.

Utilisation of well-established protocols will likely reduce litigation in thyroid surgery, as we move towards a landscape in which the patient journey is thoroughly scrutinised for targeted improvements.