A Carnoustie cancer patient decided to leave no room for doubt after being denied treatment at Ninewells Hospital because he couldn’t prove his identity.
Allan Torz went in with the deeds to his house, his driving licence, passport, army medals and other unique identifiers after he had potentially life-saving treatment delayed because he could not remember his NHS number.
Mr Torz said it was ridiculous that a radiographer who knew who he was insisted he recite his NHS number to prove his identity.
But when he could not remember the number, the radiographer at Ninewells Hospital said she could not give him his treatment.
He says he was then left to wander out into a public area confused and alone wearing only his underpants.
The 54-year-old has just started a course of radiotherapy, after being told his cancer has spread. He will be required to attend the hospital five days a week for a month to have the treatment.
He said he had already attended for two treatments and the radiographer addressed him by his name, when he was told he could not be treated without the NHS patient identification number.
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said rules regarding patient identification were in place to ensure patients are given the appropriate amount of radiation treatment and mistakes were not made.
Mr Torz said: “When I went up again on Friday, I took my passport, my driving licence, my army record book, my medals and the deeds to my house. I just wanted to show them there is no doubt I am who I say I am.”
The Black Watch veteran, who served during tours of Ireland in the 1970s, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. He had surgery last November but six months later tests showed that had not been successful in removing the cancer. Mr Torz said: “My chances are not good because it has spread.”
Already worried about his situation and, by his own admission, befuddled due to his distress, Mr Torz said he could not remember the identification number when he went for radiotherapy treatment last week.
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He said: “I had given the radiographer my name, my address, my date of birth. She said she wouldn”t treat me without proper identification. I said: ‘You are refusing me life-saving treatment because I can”t remember this number” and she said ‘I can”t identify you”.
“It was ridiculous. She was calling me Mr Torz.”
He went to complain to his cancer specialist and was spoken to by a senior member of NHS Tayside”s formal complaints service before another radiographer agreed to deliver his treatment later the same day.
A spokesman for NHS Tayside said: “To ensure the safety of patients who will be exposed to medical radiation, NHS Tayside must comply with the Ionising Radiation Medical Exposure Regulations 2000, which are health and safety legislation and must be adhered to by law.
“NHS Tayside has in place ’employer”s written procedures”, as required by schedule 1 of the regulations. These procedures include one for the identification of individuals about to undergo radiotherapy.
“The procedure requires that the patient is asked to state their name and Community Health Index number before each treatment. This number is unique to every patient and allows the staff to check that the patient is being given the treatment intended for them. If there is any doubt, the patient may be asked for their address. If a patient cannot identify themselves then a carer can do it for them.
“Staff must not irradiate a patient who they cannot positively identify.
“Patients who attend for a course of radiotherapy treatment could reasonably expect that staff get to know them as individuals. However, the staff are still required by law to check the identity of a patient before every treatment. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action.
“Patients are usually happy to give the information required to ensure that they get the correct treatment.”