North Cumbria Hospitals patient death 'avoidable'

A man who died from lung cancer might have been saved if a hospital trust had not "failed to act" on two abnormal chest X-rays, an investigation found.

Growths identified in the patient's examinations were not followed up for three years and were then untreatable, the health ombudsman said.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust also failed to correctly handle a complaint from the man's daughter.

The trust, which runs hospitals in Carlisle and Whitehaven, apologised.

The investigation was carried out by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which deals with unresolved NHS England complaints.

The patient, referred to only as Mr C, was admitted twice to hospital with stroke-like symptoms in 2014 and 2015.

On both occasions X-rays were carried out which found abnormal growths in his lungs, but no action was taken.

In July 2017, Mr C was found to have advanced lung cancer and he died weeks later.

In a serious incident report, the trust found the "root cause of the failure" in 2014 was an outdated paper reports system and there was no evidence to suggest the information had "ever reached" the requesting physician.

The PHSO recommended the trust acknowledge the failings, apologise in writing to Mr C's family and compensate them £10,000.

It also recommended it undertake an audit to review the changes put in place following what happened.

Mr C's daughter said in a statement that when she complained to the hospital "they put a big wall up" and "pretended I wasn't there".

"I just wanted them to say sorry for the damage they've done to our family," she said.

"I don't want anyone else to go through this which is why I turned to PHSO. My caseworker was an angel and did a brilliant job - I can't thank them enough."

She plans to buy a park bench in memory of her father.

In a statement, the trust said since the case it had improved its clinical and complaints processes.

"We welcome the ombudsman's work to ensure our complaints process is the quality that we expect and we are sorry that in this case it found it was not," it said.

"The trust remains committed to being open and honest when things do not go as we would like. It is vital that we learn from mistakes to ensure we can deliver the highest quality of patient care."

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