No delay in Practice's bowel cancer diagnosis but it gave misleading information after review

What happened

Mrs J was a patient at the Practice. In late winter 2013, her GP ordered a blood test after she reported some weight loss and abdominal pains. The test results showed anomalies and Practice staff made an appointment to see Mrs J the following month. However, very soon after, an out–of–hours GP diagnosed a bowel obstruction and Mrs J was admitted to hospital as an emergency. Clinicians found a large tumour on Mrs J's bowel during surgery, and a scan identified another cancer on her liver. Mrs J died a year later.

Mrs K complained that the Practice failed to diagnose bowel cancer in time to prevent the emergency surgery.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. The Practice could not have diagnosed Mrs J's condition any earlier, and gave appropriate care and treatment.

Unfortunately when the Practice sent Mrs K its final response to her complaint, it included misleading information from its significant event review. Mrs K felt this showed it had not handled the complaint properly.

Putting it right

The Practice acknowledged the failings we identified and took steps to address the issues raised in the review.