Mr D complained about the care and treatment provided by Swansea Bay University Health Board to his mother, Mrs E, when diagnosing her endometrial cancer. The Ombudsman considered whether investigations and treatment, carried out between October 2021 and March 2022, were adequate and timely, and whether investigations and treatment, carried out following the urgent suspected cancer (“USC”) referral from the GP in February 2023, were adequate and timely.
The Ombudsman upheld both complaints. The investigation found there was a failure to adequately consider and follow up the findings of the histology report in October 2021. This meant that decisions about Mrs E’s care at that time were not informed by reliable clinical information. As a result, she lost the opportunity for better care. The investigation also found that from the point of the USC referral in February 2023, there were unacceptable delays in the investigation of Mrs E’s symptoms. This meant that the diagnosis of Mrs E’s cancer was avoidably delayed for several months. As a result, Mrs E lost the opportunity for earlier intervention and treatment which could have had a significant impact on the options available for the management and treatment of her cancer.
The Health Board accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations, which included an apology and a financial redress payment of £1,000 to Mrs E and a number of service improvement actions aimed at addressing the causes of the delays in her case.