Cancer scare for thousands after hospital's decade of blunders mean 7,000 patients may have been 'misdiagnosed'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 07:46 EST, 19 February 2012


Fears: Catherine Calland is planning to sue Bristol Royal Infirmary where as many as 7,000 errors could have been made

Fears: Catherine Calland is planning to sue Bristol Royal Infirmary where as many as 7,000 errors could have been made

Thousands of patients suffering with cancer may have been misdiagnosed at a hospital in Bristol, according to whistleblowers.

An investigation at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) has revealed nearly 7,000 serious errors could have been made over the past 10 years.

Cases include a retired nurse with terminal cancer who says she was dismissed by doctors as 'hysterical' for wanting a breast lump removed.

Catherine Calland, 65, was wrongly given the all-clear after a series of tests nearly seven years ago.

Although she told medics she had a ‘bad feeling’ about the lump on her left breast, she claims she was laughed at.

Just one year later, Mrs Calland was diagnosed with fatal malignant lymphoma.

Other cases include a former NHS manager of cancer services who died after her breast cancer went undetected.

Jane Hopes died from breast cancer in 2004 after a lump was  wrongly classed as benign.

Her husband, Reg Hill and Mrs Calland, are now preparing to sue the hospital.

Pathologists were alleged to have misread the results on at least 26 people between 2004 and 2008.

When independent pathologists reexamined those 26 cases, they found only seven had actually been correct.

Tests: Catherine Calland had her initial mammogram at Bristol's University Hospital's Central Health Clinic in December 2005 which showed the lump was benign (pictured posed by models)

Tests: Catherine Calland had her initial mammogram at Bristol's University Hospital's Central Health Clinic in December 2005 which showed the lump was benign (pictured posed by models)

A report, commissioned by United Hospitals Bristol Trust (UHBT), admits that out of a further 3,500 cases, 3.4 per cent may have been misdiagnosed. 

The hospital examines more than 20,000 specimens a year which could mean as many as 6,800 errors over the past decade. 

Dr Nasif Ibrahim, a consultant pathologist at North Bristol trust who retired last year, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'A three per cent error rate would never be acceptable.

'I would not have wanted a biopsy from a member of my family to go there.'

A group of campaigners, led by former breast cancer patient Daphne Havercroft, are now calling for the hospital not to merge the BRI pathology unit with other services because they believe more patients will be put at risk. 

UHBT has apologised to patients and said it is focused on improving the unit.  

A spokesman said the inquiry's independent panel found no evidence to suggest the department was not safe.

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