NHS apologises to widow after missing spouse's cancer twice

An NHS board has apologised to a widow after missing their spouse’s cancer twice at hospital.

The patient was admitted to hospital twice with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea after their GP submitted an urgent suspicion of cancer referral, but they were not diagnosed with bowel cancer until a third visit.

NHS Lanarkshire initially diagnosed the patient with a suspected blocked bowel and sent them home, but they returned to the hospital a few days later with ongoing symptoms.

After the second visit, the patient was once again discharged with a plan to return for an outpatient colonoscopy.

They later returned to the hospital for a diabetic foot infection resulting in surgery. During this final admission, the patient was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) received a complaint from the patient’s spouse.

The partner was unhappy that their spouse was discharged from hospital following the first two admissions with no clear diagnosis or plan in place.

The widow also felt communication throughout the experience was “poor”.

The ombudsman took independent advice from a clinical adviser and senior nurse adviser.

It was found that, given the patient’s symptoms and the urgent suspicion of cancer referral, NHS Lanarkshire failed to consider them for an inpatient colonoscopy during their second admission to hospital.

The health board also “unreasonably” failed to schedule an outpatient colonoscopy in the following weeks.

The watchdog found that the second discharge from hospital was “inappropriate” because the patient’s symptoms, along with other information, “should have alerted clinical staff to the possibility of cancer”.

The ombudsman also said basic nursing care “could not be evidenced due to poor documentation” and that appropriate assessments were not carried out.

It upheld all aspects of the complaint relating to the care and treatment of the widow’s spouse, but it found that the complaint had been handled appropriately.

The ombudsman made a number of recommendations, including that the health board apologise to the widow.

Russell Coulthard, director of Acute Services for NHS Lanarkshire, said: “Our sympathies remain with the family at what has been an extremely difficult time.

“We fully acknowledge and accept that the clinical care provided in this case fell short of what was required and expected. We apologise unreservedly to the family for these failings.”