£150k payout to woman with cancer to cover cost of treatment

A WOMAN seeking £5 million compensation from Scotland's largest health board because medics failed to spot her cancer symptoms has been awarded an interim payment of £150,000 to help cover the cost of her treatment.

Helen McGlone, 31, had hoped that by now she would be holding down a high-flying job in the banking and finance industry. But her career plans, and her hopes of becoming a mother, were dashed by a botched smear test.

Greater Glasgow Health Board has already admitted it was at fault, and a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh has thrown out their claim that an earlier diagnosis would have made no difference.

Dr McGlone - who has a PhD in particle physics - faces further court hearings to decide how much should be paid over in damages.

But yesterday, Andrew Smith QC asked judge Lord Tyre to make an interim award, in advance of the courts' final decision. He said Dr McGlone thought private radiology treatment could help her condition, but she could not afford it.

"She is very short of money," said the lawyer, adding that the health board, a publicly-funded organisation, could save themselves the 8 per cent interest they would otherwise have to pay on part of the inevitable settlement. After some argument over the legal technicalities, Greater Glasgow Health Board counsel Alan McLean QC offered 150,000.

Lord Tyre welcomed the informal agreement, saying he did not believe he had any power to order an interim payment.

Dr McGlone, 31, from Falkirk, has successfully argued that if smear tests had been correctly interpreted her cervical cancer could have been stopped at an earlier stage, avoiding the need for radical surgery.

She is now pinning her hopes of becoming a mother on specialist fertility treatment and the help of a surrogate in the USA - and says the health board should pay for this.

Dr McGlone also wants the health board to pay for her to re-train as a charity worker and has already spent time as a volunteer in orphanages in Vietnam, Morocco and Kenya.

She gained first class honours in physics and applied maths at Glasgow University and also has a PhD in particle physics. After her studies she went CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, Switzerland, to work on research projects there.It was while living in Geneva in January 2008 that she discovered how ill she was.

At an earlier hearing at the Court of Session, Ms McGlone said Swiss doctors were surprised to discover she had cancer - because previous tests in December 2005 and March 2006 had not alerted Scottish medics to the symptoms.

By that time her tumour had reached a stage where serious surgery was the only option.

Ms McGlone said her qualifications meant she could have pursued a career in banking, earning a substantial salary and bonuses, but she will now not be able to pursue such work.