Christine’s* partner reached out to Natalie Pibworth at Tees after she was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer.
Christine had suffered delay in diagnosis and treatment of her bowel cancer after her local Hospital failed to appropriately deal with an urgent referral by her GP. By the time she was diagnosed, Christine had Stage 4 bowel cancer that had spread (‘metastasised’) to her lung.
Christine wanted to know if the delay had made a difference to her prognosis, wanted compensation for the delay in diagnosis and treatment, and wanted to try and reach a conclusion to her claim as quickly as possible, given that her cancer was found to be incurable.
Natalie worked with Christine to settle the case within 12 months.
Christine’s story
Christine was in her 20s, lived with her partner and had two young children when the symptoms began.
Christine underwent chemotherapy and major surgery following her diagnosis but was sadly thereafter advised that further surgery to remove the lung metastases was not an option and that chemotherapy was the only option to try to prolong her life. Her cancer was terminal.
Failures in Christine’s diagnosis and treatment
Christine had consulted her GP with symptoms including altered bowel function and blood in her stools. The GP arranged initial investigations and then made an urgent referral to the local Hospital.
However, despite the urgent referral, the Hospital did not arrange a colonoscopy and gastroscopy until almost 6 months later. During this time, Christine suffered from enduring stomach pains and unexplained bowel symptoms. She was concerned throughout this period of delay, as she knew that the referral had been urgent and worried that there was something wrong with her. The worry and physical symptoms caused Christine to suffer from a persistent low mood for which she was prescribed antidepressants.
After Christine’s colonoscopy, she was advised that there was a possibility of cancer. A month later she was seen with her partner and the diagnosis was confirmed. Following further investigations, it was confirmed that Christine’s cancer was Stage 4 and had unfortunately spread to her lung. Treatment did not start until 3 months after the diagnosis.
Unfortunately, Christine did not tolerate chemotherapy well and was admitted to hospital many times during her treatment. She suffered from chemotherapy induced diarrhoea and abdominal pain. When she switched treatment, Christine spent 2 days in hospital because of the abdominal pain and had to have a blood transfusion. She also underwent surgery to remove her rectum and put in a stoma.
Christine received an apology from a consultant gastroenterologist at the Hospital for the delays from receiving the GP referral to her first telephone appointment and to her cancer diagnosis. The consultant admitted that this was far too long. As a result of this incident, changes were made to the service and the level of impact of the incident was graded as ‘major – up to 6 month delay in diagnosis of colorectal cancer’.
How our medical negligence specialists helped
Natalie spoke to Christine and her partner, listened to their story and asked questions to understand what Christine wanted to achieve. Having understood that one of the things that Christine wanted was to understand whether the delay in diagnosis made any difference, Natalie obtained an opinion from a colorectal expert. Natalie was able to provide Christine with some clarity in this regard as the expert concluded that the delay in diagnosis did not make a difference to Christine’s condition.
Based on a detailed review of the medical records and evidence provided by independent medical experts, Natalie was able to identify various failures that amounted to breaches in the Hospital’s duty of care to Christine, both in arranging the investigations which led to the diagnosis of cancer and thereafter beginning treatment. Natalie wrote to the Defendant Hospital and the alleged failures were put to them in a Letter of Claim.
Natalie emphasised the consequences Christine suffered as a result of the delay. She described Christine’s low mood from being left in the dark during those months, worsened by the stomach pain and altered bowel symptoms she was still dealing with.
The Defendant Hospital initially denied liability, but Natalie persevered and thereafter secured some admissions for Christine, most notably that she should have been diagnosed 2-3 months after her first GP appointment and that she should have commenced treatment less than 2 months after that.
Achieving justice
Christine achieved justice in her case through these admissions, financial compensation and a speedy conclusion to her case given her shortened life expectancy. Natalie also achieved answers and explanations for Christine which had not previously been provided to her by the Defendant Hospital. Christine can use the additional financial support to improve her quality of life.
*Christine has been anonymised to protect her identity
