The Incident
Our 63-year-old client received a diagnosis of bladder cancer in December 2016. Due to indications that his cancer had grown into deeper levels of the bladder, the client should have undergone a cystectomy, where all or part of the bladder is removed. Sadly, due to several failures in his treatment and care, the client’s cancer spread to his liver, and he was given a terminal diagnosis.
The Impact
The client was told that his cancer was terminal, which was devastating news for him and his family to receive. To add to this, he was told that he should have received the correct treatment two years earlier. As well as the pain that the client endured, this understandably caused considerable upset, anger and distress.
The Case
The client’s daughter acted as the client friend, supporting her father throughout the case. The claim was handled by Solicitor, Kinga Dadan and Chartered Legal Executive, Katie Parr.
The breaches of duty included:
- Failure to offer the client the option of a cystectomy as an alternative to bladder tumour resection after diagnosis, given that the client’s cancer was high risk.
- Failure to identify and appropriately act upon the thickening of the bladder wall as reported in the CT imaging dated 29 March 2017.
- Failure to identify and appropriately act upon the thickening of the bladder wall as reported in the CT imaging dated 29 December 2018.
- Failed to offer the client the option of a cystectomy again following further evidence of a thickened bladder wall in March 2017 and December 2018.
- Failure to take regular biopsies in/around May 2019 as required as part of surveillance treatment.
- Failure to identify and appropriately act upon thickening of the bladder wall, enlarged lymph nodes and urgent review as reported by CT imaging dated 19 December 2019.
- Failure to review and discuss the findings of the CT scan dated 19 December 2019 with the client during a review meeting.
The Case Outcome
The case was settled for £170,000. While no amount of compensation can change the outcome, it is hoped that the settlement can help provide some security and peace of mind for the family.