Cancer diagnosis delay criticised

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A health board has been criticised over delays which meant a man with cancer had to wait six months for a diagnosis after a hospital lost his paperwork.

The man, known as Mr D, died while the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales investigated a complaint by his wife.

The ombudsman said Mr D should have had an urgent scan referral to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Cwm Taf Health Board said it apologised to Mr D's family and had made changes to address the ombudsman's concerns.

The public services watchdog investigated after Mrs D complained that there had been "excessive delay in diagnosing her husband's cancer, despite him reporting symptoms for a number of years.

She also complained that he was offered inadequate pain relief.

Peter Tyndall upheld the complaint that there had been an unreasonable delay in diagnosing Mr D's cancer and partially upheld the complaint about inadequate pain relief.

I am critical of the trust for the fact that Mr D's CT scan did not take place much sooner than it did Peter Tyndall, Public Services Ombudsman for Wales

The investigation found Mr D first reported ear and neck pain in late 2005 and was first seen at the ear, nose and throat department at Prince Charles Hospital in March 2006.

A CT scan was one of a number of examinations carried out but did not find anything unusual.

By April 2007, Mr D's had lost his voice and his GP urgently referred him back to the ENT department at the hospital, where he was seen 23 May 2007 by the staff grade doctor.

The report said: "Given the symptoms Mr D was experiencing, which were potentially indicative of cancer (particularly as he was a smoker), this scan should have been done urgently.

"Unfortunately, the CT scan did not happen until 29 November 2007, some six months later.

'Lengthy wait'

"As the referral form for the CT scan was not put on the computer system and has since been destroyed, it is impossible to say whether this delay was because the staff grade doctor did not mark the request as urgent, or because there was a clerical error when the form was received at the radiology department.

"Due to the staffing situation and practices at the Prince Charles Hospital radiology department at that time, non-urgent patients were faced with a lengthy wait for scans.

Mr Tyndall added: "I am critical of the trust for the fact that Mr D's CT scan did not take place much sooner than it did.

"Had it been recognised as an urgent request Mr D would have had his CT scan within two to three weeks and he would have received his diagnosis much sooner than he did.

"Whether or not this would have made any difference to his prognosis is, sadly, impossible to say.

"I am also disappointed that it took action from Mrs D to chase up the scan. It seems that Mr and Mrs D were told by the staff grade doctor that they would be seen again after the scan.

'Apologise'

"As a result there was no 'safety net' to check if the scan was being done in a timely fashion."

In partially upholding the complaint about Mr D's pain relief, the Mr Tyndall concluded: "This complaint is tied to the complaint about delayed diagnosis.

"Had Mr D been diagnosed earlier, it is likely that he would have received adequate pain relief sooner than he did."

Shona Sullivan, Medical Director of Cwm Taf Health Board, said: "On behalf of Cwm Taf Health Board, I would like to apologise to Mr D's family for any failings in the standard of care provided in this case.

"I would also want to reassure the public the health board has already made changes to address the ombudsman's concerns as expressed in his report.

"These measures aim to prevent similar problems happening again and we are pleased to note the ombudsman has recognised the progress made in his report."