A Durham hospital has apologised to a Washington man after it incorrectly informed him he had bowel cancer when he did not
Mike Campbell-Smith was given a discharge letter from the University Hospital of North Durham which said he had bowel cancer, weeks after having polyps removed from his colon. The shocking news turned the 60-year-old “deathly white”, but after hurrying back and speaking to staff, he was told it was all a mistake.
Mike complained to County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust who apologised for the error. An internal investigation has since been launched.
On August 23, Mike underwent a colonoscopy procedure, but began suffering excruciating pain for days afterwards. Despite taking strong painkillers, Mike resorted to calling the University Hospital of North Durham as his pain was continuing and he ended up going to the A&E department.
During his time in A&E, Mike says he was told he had blood clots on his liver following a CT scan before eventually being put on a Gastro ward at the end of August. But when Mike was finally discharged to go home at the beginning of September, he was provided with a discharge letter. But when he checked it, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
Mike said: “When they discharged me, on the letter it said ‘bowel cancer confirmed’. I had absolutely no idea about it, I crumbled into a heap. It’s not the thing you expect to read. Thank God I read it in the hospital, because if I’d read that at home, I don’t know what I’d have done.
“I then went and had a word with staff and they said ‘Oh that’s a mistake’. I couldn’t believe it, they’re telling someone they have cancer when they haven’t.”
Mike says another discharge letter was printed off, which he claims had other bits of incorrect information included. He continued: “I said to them again, ‘what’s going on here?’ and I had a discussion with a senior doctor who said it shouldn’t have happened. I said it was an awful thing to do to somebody. I was having heart problems earlier in the year and if I still was at the time, I would have probably had a heart attack.”
Mike added that nobody had ever told him of the possibility of cancer, and so the error was so shocking he went “deathly white” and began shaking. He has since lodged a complaint with the Trust.
He said: “Three of my grandparents had cancer and it’s always been my worry that it will be me who dies that way as well. One died of lung cancer, my grandmother had stomach cancer, and my grandfather had bowel cancer. I’ve always thought, ‘that’s the way I’m going to go’, and so seeing (the error) I just haven’t slept since.”
An internal investigation has since been launched. A spokesperson from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are very sorry for the errors in the letter received by Mr Campbell-Smith and any distress that may have been caused. An internal investigation is underway and we are therefore unable to comment further at this time.
“Our Patient Experience Team are liaising directly with Mr Campbell-Smith and will be speaking with him directly to discuss this further. We take any concerns about the care we are providing very seriously. We have procedures in place to allow us to fully investigate and to learn and improve from these where needed.”