GP delayed referring patient for investigations into cancer symptoms

What happened

Ms G went to Dr P with long–standing constipation, rectal bleeding and weight loss. Dr P prescribed laxatives but these did not improve Ms G's condition. Three weeks later, Dr P referred her to hospital for further investigations. Ms G was subsequently diagnosed with advanced rectal cancer which had spread to her liver and could not be cured.

Ms G complained that Dr P did not refer her to hospital sooner and had not recognised the significance of her symptoms. Ms G said that her prognosis would have been better if she had been referred to hospital and received a diagnosis sooner.

What we found

We partly upheld the complaint. Dr P did not examine Ms G appropriately, did not make an appropriate urgent referral, and did not record relevant information about Ms G's symptoms and condition.

We did not find that these failings had a significant impact on Ms G's prognosis as even if Ms G had been diagnosed sooner, it was likely that her cancer would still have been incurable. However, we did find that Dr P's actions caused distress to Ms G as she felt her concerns were not taken seriously, and this had caused her to have doubts about whether her prognosis could have been improved.

Putting it right

We recommended that the GP Practice produce an action plan to demonstrate what had been learned from this complaint. We also recommended that Dr P discusses this complaint during his next appraisal.

We partly upheld this complaint.