Patient died after delay in cancer diagnosis

Eileen Peacock died aged 72 in December 2021, 19 months after her cancer was spotted

A cancer patient died after errors in diagnosing her condition led to a 14-month delay in receiving treatment.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust admitted in a Serious Incident Review (SIR) it had failed to investigate a "yellow flag" on Eileen Peacock's scans in March 2019.

Mrs Peacock had a chest x-ray in May 2020, when the cancer was found, at which time it had increased in size and was incurable.

Group Chief Executive Jonathan Lofthouse, said the trust had apologised to the family for the "failings in care".

The trust admitted that, on the balance of probabilities, had the scans been followed up in 2019, Mrs Peacock's early death in December 2021 would have been avoided.

"We deeply regret that she did not receive the timely care she deserved," Mr Lofthouse said.

Mrs Peacock first had a scan in 2019 when she was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary with chest pains.

It showed a "density" between her ribs and a report highlighted the need for further investigation, which did not happen. Ten days later she had a triple heart bypass.

However, the cancer was eventually discovered when Mrs Peacock went for a chest x-ray in May 2020 after suffering from a persistent chesty cough.

Ron Peacock said missing his wife's cancer was "unforgiveable"

Mrs Peacock, from Hull, launched legal action against the trust before her death, after being told of the lengthy delay in her diagnosis and that she likely had less than two years to live.

Hudgell Solicitors said it had resulted in an out of court compensation settlement for her husband Ron, whom Mrs Peacock had been married to for 52 years.

“It was a disgrace what happened to Eileen, but I’m determined to get justice for her and to make sure everyone is held accountable for the things that have gone wrong," said Mr Peacock.

“Missing the cancer on the scan was unforgiveable, and Eileen was very angry and upset at how she was let down and struggled to cope with it all.

"We’d been looking forward to our retirement years together and that was taken away."

The couple had been married for 52 years and were looking forward to spending the remainder of their retirement together

The legal firm said the Peacocks were "so badly let down" and the family intended to seek further answers from those involved.

Michelle Tebbutt, of Hudgell Solicitors, said: “In the early stages of her claim Mrs Peacock told us that she would always struggle to accept what happened to her. She was very angry and upset.

“This is a really sad case and this misdiagnosis had a devastating consequence, as had the scans been further reviewed by specialists, as was the intention, the cancer would have been detected at a much earlier stage, and treatment would have prolonged her life."

She said there had been "missed opportunities" by the trust to spot the cancer, particularly in the two weeks Mrs Peacock was in hospital while having heart surgery, in which time she had four further chest x-rays to check on her cardiac health.

In a statement, Mr Lofthouse said: “The delays in Mrs Peacock’s treatment were investigated in 2020 and the findings shared with her family, followed by a letter of apology for the failings in care identified.

"Work to reach a settlement was concluded as quickly as possible under the circumstances, but with financial management of the claim being led by NHS Resolution on our behalf, some elements of the process were outside the Trust’s control.

“Since this incident occurred, we have put in place comprehensive measures to prevent any such repeat of these errors, including significant improvements in internal communication and handover procedures.

“We remain fully committed to learning from this case and continuously improving the safety and quality of care for all our patients.”