Trust's poor care delayed terminal cancer diagnosis

What happened

Ms V was referred to hospital by her GP after persistent pain in her lower back and leg. The hospital arranged for her to have a scan and discharged her.  A week later she was readmitted to hospital and a number of tests, including the MRI scan were done, but there were delays in them taking place.

Doctors did not talk to Ms V about the possibility that she had cancer, but they said that she might need to consider moving to a care home when she was discharged. Her family complained that Ms V's personal hygiene needs were not properly met by nursing staff and that doctors were insensitive about mentioning the care home.

What we found

Although the initial assessment of Ms V's condition was reasonable, there were unreasonable delays in carrying out the necessary tests and scans to find out what was causing her symptoms. Doctors should have discussed with her at an early stage the possibility that Ms V's condition was being caused by cancer.

As a result of the Trust's failings, Ms V's terminal diagnosis was delayed by as much as three weeks. This meant she remained in hospital for too long and was denied the possibility of spending her final weeks with her family at home.

Ms V's hygiene needs were also not adequately met during her time in hospital, which compromised her dignity.

We did not find that it had been inappropriate for a doctor to have discussed with Ms V her views about moving to a nursing home.

Putting it right

The Trust apologised to Ms V's family for the injustice she experienced. It acknowledged service failure and maladministration and prepared an action plan to explain what it had done to learn lessons from the complaint.