A cancer patient died after a Tayside health centre failed to mark a hospital referral as urgent.
The practice, which has not been identified, has been ordered to apologise to the man’s widow by the Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman (SPSO).
The man, who the SPSO referred to as Mr A, died just over a year after first complaining of feeling unwell.
His widow also complained that he had been told of his diagnosis over the phone, in a move that was described as “inappropriate and (showing) a lack of compassion”.
In a report, the ombudsman ruled the medical practice had not followed national guidelines for referrals relating to suspected cancer cases.
The ombudsman was told that Mr A first attended the practice in January 2013 complaining of chest pain and a cough but that a chest x-ray and blood tests came back normal.
Two months later he returned complaining that the symptoms had not disappeared and was referred to hospital, which he attended that May.
From the time of his first visit, Mr A had been given painkillers to help manage his discomfort.
Following a difficult diagnosis procedure Mr A was told over the phone by his GP in September 2013 that he had cancer and he died in May last year.
The SPSO report said: “We took independent advice from one of our GP advisers and found that while Mr A was treated reasonably and appropriately and that efforts were made to treat his pain, he was not referred to hospital in line with national guidelines for suspected cancer.
“His referral should have been urgent rather than routine.
“Because of this, there was a delay in him being seen in hospital and a delay in his treatment being started.
“While it was confirmed that Mr A had been told of his diagnosis over the phone, this was for the best of intentions in order to explain his increasingly strong painkillers.
“Nevertheless, this should not have happened and arrangements should have been made for a house call or for Mr A to attend the practice.
“In light of the advice we received, we upheld (the) complaint.”