'Missed opportunities' - Veteran died after early diagnosis missed at Blackpool Victoria Hospital
Inquest hears opportunities missed for earlier diagnosis ahead of death of forces veteran
Changes to referral follow-up procedure have been pledged at Blackpool Victoria Hospital following the death of a 68-year-old armed forces veteran who had cancer.
Francis Kerr died of bronchial pneumonia at the hospital last December, with the secondary cause of death ruled as metastatic lung cancer.
An inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard that nodules had been found on a lung when Mr Kerr went for a health check the previous December and a follow-up check the next month suggested the nodules might be inflamed.
It was decided he should have a CT scan, for which the standard interval is three months after the initial check, the coroner was told.
He received an appointment for a date in March but when he arrived, he was told by the radiology department that his appointment should be in April, three months after the last check.
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The inquest was told a new date was set but Mr Kerr asked to cancel for personal reasons, as he did with two further appointments offered for May.
Procedure at the hospital after three such patient cancellations is for the case to be referred back to the clinician who had requested the scan but no further contact was made with Mr Kerr.
In early December, he reported to the emergency department at the hospital with lower back pain, was admitted and after tests, lung cancer diagnosed. He then developed bronchial pneumonia and died in the hospital on December 31.
At the inquest, Blackpool and Fylde assistant coroner Louise Rae heard evidence from consultants at the hospital on the timeline leading up to Mr Kerr’s death and an expert view on what difference a diagnosis of the cancer some months earlier might have made.
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Ms Rae returned a conclusion of natural causes, but said it clear that there had been missed opportunities which could have led to an earlier diagnosis.
“The evidence is that a treatment plan could have been put in place if the cancer had been spotted earlier,” she said.
Ms Rae added that she was pleased to see that an action plan had been set in place at the hospital for improvements to be made to the referrals follow-up system, with the deadline for them to be introduced the end of May.