Six-figure payout for family of Sedgley cancer death dad

Clare Evans described her husband Wayne as her best friend

A family is to receive a six-figure payout after doctors failed to tell a father about an abnormal growth.

Father-of-two Wayne Evans had visited his GP in the West Midlands in 2008, but he did not hear back from doctors after tests, which revealed the growth.

Symptoms returned in 2011 and surgery found he had an inoperable bowel tumour. He died in May 2013 aged 41.

Ridgeway Surgery, in Sedgley, has now agreed to pay a damages settlement to Mr Evans' family.

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His wife Clare, 45, said the loss of her husband had left the family "broken".

In legal action against the practice, medical negligence specialists Hudgell Solicitors alleged that the tests in 2008, which showed the abnormal growth, had been wrongly filed away at the surgery after being sent from Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.

They said when Mr Evans did not hear back from his GP, he believed there was nothing to worry about.

Mr Evans pictured with his daughters

It was alleged that if the growth had been removed, Mr Evans would still be alive.

Mrs Evans said: "In hindsight, I wish we had rung to check the results, but Wayne started to feel well again and we didn't think about it," adding that they thought "no news was good news".

"The letter had been filed and we were never told about the polyp growth," she said.

Mr Evans returned to the GP in 2011 after experiencing similar symptoms and surgery revealed an inoperable tumour.

He died at home, with his wife and daughters Natasha and Chloe by his side, in May 2013.

A statement from Ridgeway Surgery said: "We deeply regret that this incident happened and we send our condolences to the family of Mr Evans.

"A thorough investigation was instigated following this incident in 2008 and important changes were made to our internal processes to ensure systems were in place to prevent any similar recurrence in the future."