Leeds woman given terminal diagnosis after doctors missed tumour on scan

Anne Shaw had been treated successfully for breast and ovarian cancer

A Leeds woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer two years after doctors failed to spot its return on a scan.

Anne Shaw, 68, who had previously been given the all-clear from the disease, underwent a routine scan on her hip in 2019 but the tumour in her ovary was missed.

By the time she was diagnosed in 2021, the cancer had spread to her bowel and was incurable.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it was "deeply sorry" for the delay.

Mrs Shaw, from Shadwell, was successfully treated for breast cancer in 2006 before being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016. She was given the all-clear after having one of her ovaries removed.

Her scan in 2019 showed the 3cm tumour that was not flagged up by a doctor

In 2020 she became unwell and was concerned that the cancer had returned, so visited a registrar who examined her stomach and reassured her she was fine.

But Mrs Shaw said her condition worsened and after going back to the doctor in 2021, she was fast-tracked to a cancer specialist and told the disease had in fact returned.

At that point the consultant said he had a "duty of candour" to explain that the cancer had been visible on the scan in 2019.

She was told the tumour had been 3cm (1.1in) long on the initial scan but by the time it was detected, it had grown to four times the size.

She said: "I don't know if the radiologist who read that X-ray is still working for the trust. To be honest he or she shouldn't be."

Although her cancer is classed as dormant, she does not know how much time she has left and now lives with a stoma bag, which she says limits her activities and what she can eat.

"As the days, weeks, months and years have gone on, it's not got any easier and thinking about the what-ifs and maybes is no good to me now."

Mrs Shaw said she used to be outgoing and regularly enjoyed meeting friends

She said she used to be "outgoing and gregarious" and would regularly meet up with friends but no longer went on nights out because of difficulties she had experienced with her stoma bag.

"The cancer specialists have all said if I'd had treatment when that X-ray was done, I would have only had chemo and I'd have been monitored regularly so it would have made a massive difference."

She said the diagnosis had affected future plans with Louis, her husband of 25 years.

He said: "It's absolutely terrible. It's heart-breaking. It's very difficult when we go to bed to cuddle her because I am frightened that if it's [stoma bag] too tight it could burst."

Mrs Shaw, who has won compensation through medical negligence lawyers, is now calling for more than one radiologist to look at patients' scans so there is less chance of her experience being repeated.

"I would like to see a rule that two consultants must look at the X-rays... It might put more of a burden on the NHS but I'm sorry, we have lives that we need to live."

Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the trust was "deeply sorry for the delay in diagnosing Anne's cancer" and the impact it had had on her health.

He added: "As soon as we were aware of the error, we met with Anne and explained we would investigate the reporting discrepancies.

"This is so that we can understand why and how it happened and what we can learn and improve.

"We have shared the findings from this investigation with Anne and we have shared the learning with our radiologists and radiographers."

Dr Harrison apologised for not following up on Anne's requests for a meeting and said the trust would be contacting her "as soon as possible to arrange a convenient time to meet".