Nurse’s final message after being told six times she didn’t have cancer

A nurse and mother of two who worked for the NHS for 13 years, was repeatedly told she didn’t have cancer was diagnosed as terminally-ill after doctors incorrectly read her smear test results.

Julie O’Connor, 49, had been regularly screened over the past ten years and had raised concerns about abnormal bleeding with her GP. Doctors repeatedly sent her some and told her that the abnormalities were likely to be hormonal and due to her age. In 2014, Julie was given the all-clear during a routine smear test at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

Tragically they were wrong, and re-tests performed on samples taken in 2014 and 2015 showed there were high-grade pre-cancerous cells present during that time that the pathology lab failed to identify – and which could have saved her life.

Doctors had failed to diagnose her illness over a period of three years and was only diagnosed after a private consultant informed her she had cancer. Initially, Julie was told that she had stage two cervical cancer, meaning that it had grown beyond the cervix and uterus but had not reached the wall of the pelvis or lower vagina. However, further tests showed that it had spread into her hips, pelvic area and spine and was incurable.

Before Julie passed away, she recorded a short video to show the board of directors at North Bristol NHS Trust explaining what they had done to her and her family. She described how “it took six attempts for the cancer to be diagnosed” and said she wanted to make sure that this wouldn’t happen to anybody else.

Julie’s family is suing The North Bristol NHS Trust who has admitted that it was negligent from 2014 onwards.

Chantae Clark, Paralegal in the Medical Negligence team at Ashtons Legal comments: “This is a heart-breaking story of a nurse who was let down by the NHS after working for them for 13 years. There was a catalogue of errors and numerous missed opportunities which has sadly had devastating consequences. If Julie had been diagnosed in 2014 or even 2015, it could have been a completely different story. North Bristol NHS Trust should now seek to understand the full circumstances of the care they provided to improve their services and ensure that this does not happen to anybody else.”