A cancer diagnosis is always best caught early so treatment can begin but for Tracey Ketch, her lung cancer was missed by doctors, despite X-rays. Mum of two, Tracey, was struggling with shortness of breath and a persistent cough but otherwise was a healthy and happy 50-year-old.
Tracey believes her cancer was missed by Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham due to the doctors prematurely ruling out lung cancer as she was a non-smoker. She had been diagnosed with chest infections four times and was sent for two X -rays at the hospital.
In May and June 2019, Tracey’s X-rays came back with the all clear from doctors at the Sutton Coldfield site. It was not until January 2020 when Tracey’s health took a turn and she returned to her GP with chest pain that she was given a correct diagnosis.
This time she was sent for an urgent CT scan and finally her lung cancer was diagnosed. The now 53-year-old told BirminghamLive : “I’m sure my cancer was missed because I am a non-smoker. I feel my symptoms were dismissed as soon as the question of smoking was covered.”
When reviewing the CT scan, the doctor found a four centimetre tumour and secondary growths throughout her lungs. A consultant told her that the previous X-rays had suggested the mum of two had cancer but it was missed.
Her journey to get her diagnosis left her “shocked and tearful” but also confused at this sudden overwhelming change. She said: “I didn’t accept it at first. I'd had three X-rays and been to A&E, so I thought: 'How could I go from being all clear to having cancer all over my lungs?'
“Because I’d been to my GP so many times, and told it was a chest infection, I was telling myself it was all in my mind and it was stress. At the time I was having all these symptoms my husband had suffered a stroke, so I convinced myself it was to do with the strain of life, as I was having to care for him also.”
Tracey, encouraged by her consultant, launched legal action with medical negligence specialists Hudgell Solicitors. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust admitted that the chest X-rays from May and June 2019 fell below the expected standards.
They acknowledged that the visible tumour was not identified and that had the radiographs been appropriately interpreted an early diagnosis would have been likely. Tracey received a four-figure settlement.
Tracey’s overall outcome is not believed to have been impacted by the delay. She has responded well to treatment with tablets, which have stopped the growth of the tumour but may need more intensive treatment in future.
She said: “I am stable at present, which means the cancer isn’t growing, which is of course positive, but I don’t like to ask about too far ahead. I know there will be a time when the tablets stop having a positive impact and I may have to look at chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“But I choose to live in the here and now and not worry. It is how I cope. I’ve also wanted to make sure lessons are learned.”
Her consultant also reported the misdiagnosis and a review by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found that around one in five lung cancers were missed on X-rays. This number is increasing in non-smokers and the review said: “Media messaging highlighting the close link between lung cancer and smoking, and the often non-specific symptoms of lung cancer, have created a significant diagnostic challenge for GPs.”
Tracey said: “I think my case highlights how easy it is to slip through the net if you have lung cancer but are otherwise healthy and a non-smoker." She is hoping that her case highlights this concerning trend in lung cancer diagnosis.
Solicitor Shauna Page, of Hudgell Solicitors, said: “Tracy has been incredibly brave in how she has handled what happened to her and how she has been fully involved in investigations to help learn and improve healthcare in the future. The delay should not have happened, and it was only right that the consultant who spotted this highlighted it and ensured it was taken further and investigated fully.”
A spokesman for University Hospitals Birmingham said: “We offer a sincere apology to Mrs Ketch, for the failure to identify her cancer sooner. This falls far below our expectations of the care that she should have received from us.
“A full investigation into Mrs Ketch’s delayed diagnosis has been carried out, with the learning shared in full with the specialist team involved in her care and treatment.”
