Consultant wrongly told patient that she did not have cancer

What happened

In summer 2012 Mrs C had surgery at the Trust. After the surgery, staff told her that she had cancer in her stomach lining and bowel. They told her that she would need cancer treatment and further tests, but they did not arrange these. Mrs C then saw a surgical consultant, who said that there was no cancer whatsoever.

Five weeks later the surgical consultant told Mrs C that she did in fact have cancer.

He apologised and said that an amended histology report had arrived that now included the diagnosis of cancer. Urgent action was taken to refer Mrs C for chemotherapy, which began in autumn 2012.

What we found

The initial histology report that the surgical consultant saw before he told Mrs C that she did not have cancer said that cancer was present and that Mrs C needed treatment.

It was apparent that the consultant did not read this report properly. However, our clinical adviser told us that the five-week delay in starting chemotherapy that this mistake caused would not have affected Mrs C's prognosis.

Putting it right

The Trust had already accepted that there had been a failing in the care provided by the surgical consultant and had made several improvements designed to avoid a similar occurrence in future. Both the Trust and the consultant had already apologised for the error made. We did not feel that there were any more changes the Trust could make but we recommended that it should pay compensation to Mr C, who had complained on behalf of his wife, for the distress caused by the incorrect information given to Mr and Mrs C. The Trust paid Mr C compensation of £1,200.