A Tayside man was wrongly told he did not have cancer only a few weeks before the disease killed him.
The case was dealt with by the Scottish public services ombudsman after the man’s widow complained about the way he had been treated at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
The man, who has been identified only as Mr C in the ombudsman’s report, had been seeing his GP for breathlessness, cough and weight loss.
He went to the accident and emergency department at Ninewells in late January 2011 and, after seeing a nurse and a doctor, he was sent home and told to wait until the GP referred him to hospital. No medical assistance was given.
Mr C attended the respiratory clinic 10 days later, when he was X-rayed, weighed and had bloods taken. He was told he did not have cancer.
A few days later his GP arranged for him to be admitted to hospital and a CT scan was carried out, showing evidence of widespread infiltration of the lung, suggestive of malignant disease or infection.
As the scan was inconclusive, a biopsy of the lung was carried out the following day. The result indicated that Mr C had lung cancer which was rapidly progressing and which was unusual for a non-smoker.
It was decided that he should be transferred to a community hospital, where he died two weeks later.
The ombudsman said: “We upheld Mrs C’s complaint that her husband was unreasonably turned away from the A&E department when she brought him there when she was concerned at his condition and the lack of urgency shown by his GPs.
“We also upheld the complaint that when Mr C attended an outpatient appointment he was incorrectly told he ‘definitely did not have cancer’.”
The ombudsman has recommend that NHS Tayside’s board remind nursing and clinical staff in A&E of the need to complete records in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and General Medical Council guidance.
He has also told it to apologise to Mr C’s widow for the failings identified in his investigation.