Mr B complained that the Health Board failed to diagnose his father, Mr A’s, bladder cancer in a timely manner following referral from his GP on 19 July 2023.
The investigation found delays in the diagnosis and treatment of Mr A’s bladder cancer and that failures occurred. However, it also found that it was unlikely Mr A’s sad outcome would have differed if care and treatment had been more timely, due to the aggressive nature of his cancer. Nevertheless, it found that Mr A suffered an injustice as he lost the chance to receive certainty about his condition and be provided with palliative care sooner. This complaint was therefore upheld.
The Health Board agreed to carry out the Ombudsman’s recommendations to apologise to Mr B, and to introduce a tracker of referrals of patients with suspected cancer to ensure delays are visible. It also agreed to conduct an audit of all patients who are under suspicion of malignancy and are awaiting 2 combined procedures or more to assess whether both procedures are necessary to diagnose malignancy. If not, the necessary diagnostic procedure should be arranged and undertaken in isolation if this would ensure a timelier investigation for diagnosis of malignancy.