Settlement of £180,000 due to delayed cancer diagnosis

Our specialist medical negligence team has achieved £180,000 in compensation for a client who suffered life-limiting consequences following a delay in diagnosing her liver cancer.

In November 2020, our client initially presented to the A&E department of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne with symptoms of nausea and vomiting. She was jaundiced, which is a sign that the liver is not functioning properly. She was examined by the doctors and it was noted that she had epigastric and right upper quadrant tenderness, with a dull ache radiating to her back. The doctors suspected pancreatitis and arranged an x-ray. The appearances were normal but a blood sample indicated abnormalities with her liver. An ultrasound scan and an MRI scan of our client’s liver were then arranged and performed.

The USS identified gallstones in the gallbladder but the MRI scan showed the appearance of a 6.2cm mass in the left lobe of the liver, with the impression of a primary liver cancer. The radiologist recommended a specialist CT liver scan, which was performed the following day. The radiologist who reported that scan identified the liver mass, but concluded that it was benign (non-cancerous). As such, no further investigations were performed and our client underwent surgery to remove two small gallstones from her gallbladder. She was discharged with no further follow-up.

Over the course of the subsequent 12 months, our client re-attended the hospital on two occasions with epigastric and abdominal symptoms. On both occasions, it was considered that her symptoms were non-specific, and were not investigated.

By the end of January 2022, our client was experiencing worsening nausea, vomiting, abdominal, and epigastric pain. She attended the A&E department of the Freeman Hospital again. On examination she was noted to be jaundiced, and blood tests revealed abnormalities with her liver. Our client was admitted to hospital for further investigations, including imaging of her liver. The liver lesion (seen previously in November 2020) had increased in size to 7.9cm, and she was informed that it was cancerous. To compound matters, our client was also informed that the CT scan in 2020 had been misreported and cancer should have been suspected. If the scan had been properly reported, the tumour would have been biopsied, and our client’s cancer would have been diagnosed and treated 14 months earlier.

She underwent surgery to remove the cancerous tumour from her liver a few weeks later, followed by a course of chemotherapy. After approximately six months, she was able to return to work. Sadly, by June 2023, she experienced worsening abdominal symptoms, with nausea and vomiting. Further investigations by the hospital revealed a recurrence of her cancer, which had spread to neighbouring organs.

Ever since, our client has fought her cancer valiantly. She has undergone two further courses of chemotherapy and further surgery to remove the tumours from her liver. In early 2026, she was informed that her cancer was incurable and her prognosis was uncertain.

The Penningtons Manches Cooper medical negligence team was instructed to investigate a potential claim on our client’s behalf. Following receipt of expert evidence from specialists in radiology and oncology, we alleged that the NHS trust was negligent for failing to properly report our client’s 2020 CT scan, which caused a 14 month delay in the diagnosis and treatment of her cancer. We alleged that earlier treatment would have been curative and our client would have lived a normal life expectancy, without cancer recurrence.

The defendant admitted that it was negligent for mis-reporting the 2020 CT scan and admitted that further investigations should have been performed. It also admitted that those investigations would have resulted in a diagnosis sooner, and that our client would have had treatment 14 months earlier. However, the defendant denied that its failures had made a difference to our client’s outcome. It argued that her cancer recurred because tiny cancerous cells had already spread by the time of her treatment and the same outcome would always have happened, even if she had been diagnosed and treated earlier.

We obtained further evidence from the expert oncologist. Whilst, in general terms, the defendant’s argument was not unreasonable, the expert confidently explained that, in our client’s case, the 14 month delay had made a significant difference to the development of those tiny cancerous cells and that, but for the delay, and with earlier diagnosis and treatment, our client would have been cured.

As our client’s prognosis was so uncertain, she wanted to resolve her claim without drawn out proceedings. Strategically, this required a novel approach to try to achieve her instructions, particularly given the defendant’s overall denial of the claim. We agreed not to issue the claim in the court, but to attempt to engage the defendant in settlement negotiations. We were able to persuade the defendant to consent to early exchange of expert evidence, following which they attended a round table meeting. At that meeting, the parties were able to discuss the claim and agree on a settlement in our client’s favour.

Arran Macleod, senior associate in the medical negligence team, who handled the case and is experienced in claims for delayed cancer diagnosis, commented: “This is a tragic case in which the defendant’s admitted negligence has limited our client’s life expectancy by a significant amount.

“Our client’s life has been turned upside down by the defendant’s mistake, which caused her diagnosis to be late and deprived her of the opportunity of a cure. She had to cancel her wedding because the cancer recurred and she had to leave a job that she loved. She has been unable to spend as much time with her grandchildren so that she could receive and endure the effects of her cancer treatment. She lives in fear about leaving her husband alone and is faced with the devastating knowledge that the defendant’s negligence has caused her life to be significantly shortened.

“We are pleased that we were able to resolve this claim for our client but the compensation will be of little consolation to her. We see many cases of delayed cancer diagnosis because of erroneous reporting of imaging. As has been the case with this client, the effects on the patients and their families can be devastating and we hope that NHS trusts will look at this as an area to improve training and competency, and to reduce the number of mistakes from happening in the future.”