£25,000 settlement for Norfolk man following delay in cancer treatment

Julie Crossley, a medical injury specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a £25,000 settlement for Mr T after his cancerous growth was mistaken for a benign cyst resulting in delayed cancer treatment.

Mr T, who had a history of skin cancer, went to see his doctor because he developed a lump behind his ear.  He was booked in to have it removed under local anaesthetic.  However, when he arrived for his day surgery, he was told that it was a cyst which might be infected and was prescribed antibiotics.  The lump was not removed and Mr T was given a non-urgent referral to the plastic surgery team.

When the lump had become larger rather than improving a month later, Mr T went back to his GP.  It took three visits to his doctor and letters to the hospital to get a new appointment, some three months after the initial procedure should have taken place.

By the time of his appointment, the lump was painful and more than twice its original size.  Not only was it cancerous but a scan revealed that the cancer had also spread.  Mr T required a lengthy operation to remove the lump and related infected muscle and ended up in the hospital for three weeks due to post-operative complications.  He also suffered some optic nerve damage.

Julie Crossley comments: “This delay and extensive surgery could and should have been avoided if the lump had been removed as planned under a local anaesthetic as a day case when Mr T first reported for surgery. Hopefully bringing this claim will help to ensure that other people do not have a similar experience. ”