Patient put on end of life care for lung cancer they didn’t have
The mistake was discovered two years later
HEALTH chiefs have apologised to a patient after they were put on end of life care for cancer that they did not have. Medics at NHS Lanarkshire issued their patient with a likely diagnosis of lung and liver cancer several years ago.
It wasn’t until they were placed on palliative care that they recognised the patient remained in good health.
The patient’s doctor went on to raise concerns around their original diagnosis and requested a review. After scans were carried out, it was revealed that the patient did not have cancer – two years after their original diagnosis.
It also emerged that the health board took “significant time” to establish that their patient did not have cancer after an inspection was requested by the doctor.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman – a watchdog for all Scottish health boards – said NHS Lanarkshire’s standard of care and attention, in this case, was “not reasonable”.
A report reads: “In relation to A’s subsequent management, we found that there were unreasonable failings.
“The standard of care and attention the board provided to A following discharge was not reasonable, and we found evidence that follow-up was proposed for A and then not acted on.
“We also found that there was a failure to respond within a reasonable time to the referral for an oncology review.”
After seeking advice from a radiologist and geriatrician over the patient’s original CT scan, the watchdog found that the medics’ likely diagnosis of their patient was, however, “reasonable”.
The report reads: “We took independent advice from a consultant radiologist (a doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating disease and injury through the use of medical imaging techniques such as x-rays and other scans) and a consultant geriatrician (a doctor who specialises in medicine of the elderly).
“We found that the diagnosis that A likely had cancer was reasonable.
It was based on a reasonable radiological opinion given the findings on A’s CT scan.
“We did not uphold C’s complaint in that regard.”
NHS bosses have since apologised to the patient and their family for “failing to provide the highest standard of care”.
Dr Jane Burns, NHS Lanarkshire medical director, said: “We regret any instance where we failed to provide the highest standards of care for our patients.
“We have fully accepted the recommendations within the Ombudsman’s reports and will develop an action plan to address them.
“The lessons learned will be shared to help avoid similar occurrences in future.
“We have already apologised to the family but would like to take this opportunity to apologise again for our failings.”