NHS trust told to improve its cancer services

A hospital trust has been told to review and improve its cancer services after the death of a woman whose treatment was delayed.

The son of Mrs S took the case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) after his 67-year-old mother, from Chelmsford, was treated at Broomfield Hospital in January 2023 but died three months later.

The PHSO found that the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust delayed investigating and treating her ovarian cancer and she had been unsafely discharged from hospital.

The trust has apologised and said it was reviewing how it managed the need for "more diagnostic services".

The PHSO said the retired history teacher and mother-of-two's son raised concerns about her care after she visited her GP with uncomfortable abdominal bloating in January and was referred to the trust.

A CT scan and biopsy found Mrs S had ovarian cancer in March, She was told it was terminal but chemotherapy might extend her life.

It said the diagnosis took 49 days and treatment did not start for 81 days after the referral. NHS England targets were for cancer to be diagnosed within 28 days of referral and treatment to begin within 62 days.

By the time Mrs S was told she could receive treatment, she was not well enough to have it.

The PHSO concluded that failings by the trust caused distress to Mrs S and her family.

It also found she was "unsafely discharged from hospital in April without any assessment of her needs or plan for the support she would need in the community".

Mrs S's son said she sang in two choirs and played tennis twice a week.

"It was just delay after delay," he said.

"My mother and I kept asking questions and for updates but never got anywhere, and the whole situation was just confusing and frustrating.

"If she had received the care she should have had then her quality of life would have improved and we may have had more time together."

He added: "I just want the trust to be held to account. I don't want another family to go through something like this."

Paula Sussex, from the PHSO, said the trust had worked to find an effective operating model "including leadership changes and a new programme to better listen to frontline voices".

It recommended it "investigate its performance against national targets and make a robust plan for how it will improve".

She added: "Because of this investigation, other patients and families should experience wait times that are in line with national guidance."

Dawn Scrafield, chief executive of the trust, apologised to the family for the delay in Mrs S's treatment.

"We have begun an integrated improvement plan, working with our health and care system partners to speed up treatment times and get patients to the right place at the right time," she said.

The trust had invested in new technology and had opened a community diagnostic centre in Thurrock, she added

"Cancer care is one of our key priorities, and we can already see our wait times reducing in some cancers as we deliver extra clinics and theatre scheduling."

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