A DUNDEE WOMAN whose late husband was failed by NHS Tayside cancer services is preparing to donate cash to cancer research in the city, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

Sandra MacKenzie is preparing to sell off a parcel of land from which she expects to raise “a substantial sum” for research.

It was her 75-year-old husband Bill’s dying wish she should sell the land and donate the proceeds, even though he started the formal process complaining about serious delays in his treatment, believed to have shortened his life.

Mrs MacKenzie continued the process following his death in October 2005 and this year her formal complaint about delays in treatment was upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, who required NHS Tayside to make a formal apology and advise her when changes to procedures were made following the investigation.

She said her husband was prepped and ready for a major operation before the surgeon was belatedly passed the results of a scan.

Realising the extent of the cancer the surgeon immediately cancelled the operation, and Mr MacKenzie and his family were advised at that time he had only weeks to live.

With chemotherapy, he lived for 11 months.

Last night his widow said if the delays in different aspects of his treatment had not occurred there was no guarantee the outcome would have been different.

She said it took weeks to get results of blood tests, a referral was inexplicably downgraded from “urgent” to “soon” and there were delays getting scan results.

“Perhaps in the long run my husband would not have survived, but had there not been delays what I do strongly believe is that the end could have been greatly delayed,” said Mrs MacKenzie.

She recounted how her husband, who led the family property firm Baluniefield Developments, continued to go to work until very near the end, controlling the pain with “a cocktail of drugs”.

She said she approached the ombudsman because the delays in treatment were “not right” and she did not want other patients to experience similar problems.

“I felt I should still have had my husband for a while longer. I am not saying he would have got cured but he might have been. I had cancer 21 years ago and I am still here today.”

Mrs MacKenzie said it is only now she feels able to begin carrying out her husband’s wishes to sell land and donate the proceeds.

The ombudsman upheld the complaint there was a delay in diagnosing Mr MacKenzie’s cancer and in obtaining the results of a CT scan. Her report states there were “clearly system failures in the management of his care”.

The ombudsman was informed by NHS Tayside that a fast track procedure to deal with referrals of suspected cancer patients has now been implemented.