A Fife medical practice has been ordered to make a full apology to a man who was forced to endure an 18-month wait for a scan which ultimately diagnosed lung cancer.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has criticised the unnamed GP after upholding a formal complaint submitted by the man known only as Mr C in the SPSO’s report into the matter which suggested there had been an unreasonable delay between November 2008 and May 2010, caused by the practice, in him receiving an MRI scan.
When the scan was eventually performed he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent surgery shortly afterwards.
The SPSO has now asked the GP to apologise to Mr C for a series of failures it has identified in its report.
”The impact on Mr C has been significant and should be recognised,” the SPSO stated. ”He was concerned throughout the 18-month period that an important aspect of his treatment was outstanding and he was correct. As a direct result of the delay he was subject to a delayed diagnosis of lung cancer.
”Following the invasive surgery he had to undergo he experienced a lengthy recovery period and a great deal of pain. His mobility has been severely restricted as a result of reduced lung function and he has problems with anxiety and panic attacks.”
The situation started after Mr C attended his GP practice in May 2008 in relation to a number of issues including shortness of breath and weight loss. He was referred to hospital for a CT scan of his chest, abdomen and pelvis, which took place in June 2008 and identified a number of abnormalities including a mass in the pancreas and lesions and bullae on the lungs. It was then decided that follow-up scans for the chest and pancreas should be carried out.
Although a pancreas scan was done in November 2008, the chest scan was not forthcoming and Mr C regularly asked about the follow-up chest scan throughout 2008 and 2009. However, the GP responded by saying he was confident the hospital would have this in hand and did not chase up the scan or re-refer Mr C to hospital.
Mr C then happened to be referred to the hospital by the GP for an unrelated matter in December 2009 and a consultant physician who had arranged his CT scan in June 2008 and remembered Mr C referred him to a chest physician. A chest scan was then carried out in April 2010, at which stage his lung cancer was diagnosed.
After reviewing the case the SPSO described the care provided to Mr C as ”inadequate” and criticised the GP’s actions and response to Mr C’s complaint.
”His explanation for not following up the scan, ie ‘I believed the appointment was forthcoming’, is not acceptable and as someone responsible for the care of Mr C’s health demonstrates a lack of care taken to explore a serious issue,” the SPSO noted.
”The cancerous growth may well have been detected sooner if the scan had in fact gone ahead when intended.”
The SPSO also said its investigation established there had been a failure of communication between the hospital and the practice and expressed concern that, had it not been for the vigilance of the consultant, the delay in follow-up would have gone on.
”It is not acceptable that Mr C’s healthcare was left to this degree of chance,” the report concluded.
The practice involved has accepted the SPSO’s findings and acted upon the recommendations.
Photo David Jones/PA