A widow who never saw her husband's original scan results before he died of cancer been 'insulted' by a £100 offer. Roy Allen had a scan in February 2019 but did not learn of his terminal diagnosis until three days before he died.
As reported by Manchester Evening News, Roy's wife Linda and son Steve, from Astley in Greater Manchester, have since spent more than three years trying to get to the bottom of why Roy he was able to get so close to death before discovering he was terminally ill. And Linda slammed a £100 offer from the NHS Trust involved.
Roy had worked as a plumber from leaving school until the final months of his life, well past retirement age. But during the winter of 2018, Roy became unwell, losing weight and suffering nightmares. Linda says it was when he went for a flu vaccine and the nurse commented that he didn't "look so good" that the family became more concerned.
Roy visited his GP in January 2019, but was sent away and told to "take two paracetamol", said his family. Yet his illness continued, and when he returned to the practice the following month, Roy saw a locum doctor who sent him for tests.
After an X-ray of Roy showed a 'shadow', he was sent for a scan at Wigan Infirmary, but neither he nor his family were given the results. Linda said: "To this day we have never seen or had any reference to this scan.
"I was phoning up every day because he started to deteriorate, nobody helped us. We didn't know he had cancer. He had no dignity whatsoever."
Roy's family says that, by this time, Roy's condition was severely worsening and he was unable to sleep in bed. "He would come downstairs saying 'I can't get easy, Linda'. He couldn't eat," said Linda. "He would lie on the couch, then lie on the living room floor."
His son Steve, 37, who is a carer for mum Linda, added: "We started to get to the point where we had paramedics here most days. We were calling 999 most days.
"They said they didn't know what to do because they didn't have the results of the scan. To this day we've never had the opportunity to review it, talk about it or anything like that."
The family say they continued to call to chase up the scan results and for further medical assistance. They were given a nebuliser for Roy the week before he died, but still did not have his scan results from Wigan Infirmary.
Roy's family ultimately took him to Royal Bolton Hospital on March 27, 2019. A scan gave the family the heartbreaking news that Roy's cancer was terminal and he died there on March 30.
The devastated family was pointed in the direction of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). After contacting the body in 2020, Roy's family say the PHSO "dragged out" the process involving their complaint.
This summer, the PHSO finally came back to the family with the offer of £100 from the NHS trust. That sum of money is the lowest "remedy" offered through the PSPO for a "level two" injustice.
This, it describes, is something which has "a relatively low impact on the person affected" and could have resulted in a "degree of distress, inconvenience or minor pain".
Linda said: "I couldn't be more offended or insulted. I can never agree that my husband dying was a minor inconvenience. They can stick their £100 wherever they want. I'll never agree to it."
Linda insists they don't want any money, but a full explanation on how they never received Roy's scan results. "They have completely disregarded what we have said to them," said Linda.
"They just want it finished so they can sweep it under the carpet. I would rather they had said in the first place that they couldn't do anything for me."
Wigan, Wrightington and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) runs the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. Prof Sanjay Arya, medical director at the trust, added: "We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family.
"In line with our organisational responsibilities around patient confidentiality, we would not comment publicly on the care received by any individual. However, we want to reassure that WWL takes all complaints and concerns seriously."
Roy was Linda's second husband. The couple met when she was 32 and they had Steve five years later.
Linda had dreamed of retiring with Roy in Cleveleys, near Blackpool, where they made many fond memories. Instead, Roy has a memorial bench at Bents garden centre near Leigh, where his family pay tribute to their "lovely man".
Linda, 76, said: "He was very humble, a very good person, and then that's what you get at the end of your life. I feel as though I have lost half of me.
"He would go out in a morning to get a newspaper and get my mags. He would come back and ask if I wanted a bacon butty.
"That was paradise. We'd sit together, he'd do the crossword and I'd read my mags. By God, do I miss that now."
A spokesperson for the PSPO told the Manchester Evening News: "We’re deeply sorry for the traumatic experience Mrs Allen has undergone before and following the sad loss of her husband.
"We carefully considered Mrs Allen’s complaint and found failings in the way the trust communicated about her husband’s scan results and diagnosis, and that this added to the family’s distress.
"The focus of our remit is to make recommendations when things go wrong. This helps organisations learn from mistakes and brings about service improvement for future users.
"The trust agreed to apologise to the Allen family and show how it has taken learning around its communication of cancer diagnosis following scans.”
