The patients have all used services provided by the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, which operates three hospitals: the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, Goole and District Hospital and Scunthorpe General Hospital.

The Trust is also part of the NHS Humber Health Partnership, alongside the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which it was announced in September would be dissolved shortly after the majority of consultants from Northern Lincolnshire and Goole signed a letter of no confidence in the Partnership’s leadership.

Both Trusts have also consistently been ranked amongst the worst in the country in the NHS’ own league table for acute hospital Trusts, prompting concern from expert clinical negligence solicitors from Switalskis, which has an office in Grimsby.

Our team are now supporting a number of patients who have suffered poor care and harm while accessing services at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby and Goole and District Hospital, including Amanda, whose case is being investigated following concerns about her treatment in the gynaecology department.

Switalskis’ experts have already raised concerns about gynaecology negligence at the Trust’s hospitals after it emerged that 36 claims related to gynaecology care had been made in five years for a variety of negligence, including avoidable pain, delays in diagnosis, failures to properly investigate symptoms and long-term harm affecting patients.

‘I feel like I’m an inconvenience’: Amanda’s story

Amanda, whose name has been changed, contacted Switalskis for help investigating delays in the treatment of her stress urinary incontinence and a subsequent bladder prolapse.

Before undergoing lumbar and sacral spinal surgery for a prolapsed disc in mid-2024, Amanda had been experiencing symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. Clinicians considered cauda equina syndrome but ruled it out, and it was hoped that the spinal surgery might also improve her urinary symptoms.

Amanda’s symptoms initially improved after the spinal operation but later returned and became progressively worse. She was referred to the gynaecology department at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, where further surgery was discussed. She was told there was no evidence of a bladder prolapse and that her symptoms were due to stress urinary incontinence.

Amanda attended several appointments at the hospital’s gynaecology outpatient department during 2025. She was eventually told that the consultant who would perform her surgery was undergoing training in the procedure she required. Amanda agreed to proceed, but the planned surgery in December 2025 did not take place. She says she received no further information and was not told why the operation had been cancelled.

In January 2026, Amanda was told that her care had been transferred to another consultant at Castle Hill Hospital in Hull, part of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the Humber Health Partnership. In the meantime, her symptoms continued to worsen. Alongside stress urinary incontinence, she experienced daily vaginal and pelvic pain, which had a significant impact on her quality of life.

Amanda returned to her GP and was then told that she had developed a bladder prolapse. She now faces the prospect of more extensive surgery than was originally proposed, as well as a greater impact on her quality of life and her ability to care for and spend time with her young family.

Describing the effect of her treatment and care at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Amanda said: “I feel like I am an inconvenience. It is just so frustrating that I’m in my late 30s and experiencing something like an 80-year-old.

“I have a young family and there is so much that I can’t do for medical reasons. I can’t go on long journeys unless I know there will be toilet facilities. I shouldn’t have to think about that at my age.

“When I went to my latest appointment, it was like I was a brand-new patient. It felt like I had to start all over again. My care has been appalling and the hospital is clearly struggling. There is no patient care whatsoever.”

Amanda added: “When I hear about other people also experiencing harm and other issues, I am not surprised. It is upsetting for those people and for me that we have got to go through this. If I could afford to go private, I would but we are stuck with what we are stuck with I suppose.

“And there are a lot of people who don’t realise that this is not acceptable. That is why I think it’s so important that I speak out.”

Amanda is now being supported by Switalskis Director and medical negligence solicitor Chris Gresswell-Green . He is investigating whether the proposed December 2025 operation should have gone ahead, why it did not proceed, and whether negligent delay or wider service issues led to the need for further investigations and referral.

‘Systemic issues causing harm to too many patients’: our expert’s view

Chris Gresswell-Green, who was born and still lives in Grimsby, said he was horrified by the experience of Amanda and urged the Trust to make urgent improvements in the standard of care at its hospitals.

He said: “Amanda had a terrible experience under the care of the gynaecology teams across the Trust and we know she is not alone. More than 30 other patients have made claims against the same department in the past five years, which shows that something is very wrong.

“When there is evidence of problems to this scale, it points to systemic issues which are harming too many patients, too often. Urgent action is needed at the Trust and each of its hospitals to prevent other patients from suffering the same harm, pain and trauma which Amanda had to endure.”

Chris added: “We will be supporting Amanda in her quest to get the answers she deserves and to find out why she was treated as she was. Amanda continues to be determined to speak out to ensure other patients do not go through the same experiences.

“Every clinical negligence claim is an opportunity for the medical teams to learn from their mistakes and to improve patient safety, which must always be the top priority. That way, we can avoid any future gynaecology negligence incidents affecting patients.”

How Switalskis medical negligence experts can support you

For compassionate advice from our experienced medical negligence team  , contact us today. Call us on on our dedicated medical negligence support line on 0808 271 3356   or email help@switalskis.com  .