Thyroid cancer patient ‘not given reasonable support’

A PATIENT who claimed doctors had delayed diagnosing and treating her thyroid cancer was not given reasonable information, advice or support by the NHS, the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) Jim Martin found yesterday.

The patient went to Crosshouse Hospital

In late 2009, the patient found a large lump on the side of her neck. She had an over-active thyroid and the GP thought the lump may have been connected to this.

She was referred to a consultant at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, who was already treating her for the over-active thyroid. Test results suggested the lump was a cyst. In January 2010, she was advised that the cyst should be removed by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at the hospital.

At the time she was breastfeeding her son, so contacted the ENT surgeon’s office to ask if the surgery was essential. She claimed she was told the cyst was “nothing sinister” and surgery was not urgent. In the light of that, she decided to delay the operation.

A year later, having heard nothing from the hospital, she asked her GP to refer her back.

In March 2011, during a routine appointment with her regular consultant, an irregularity was found on the cyst. The results of a biopsy showed cancerous cells in the cyst and in May 2011, she underwent a thyroidectomy.

The patient felt the hospital’s failure to inform her that the cyst could be cancerous, and the delay in diagnosis, had affected her chance of recovery.

The Ombudsman found that “nobody took reasonable steps to follow up” after the patient was scheduled for the surgery “to ensure that the lump had not changed or to arrange a further operation date”.

Last night, Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board had yet to comment. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “NHS boards must take action to address the Ombudsman’s recommendations, where they have not already done so.”