A hospital has apologised to a woman who was sent home with severe abdominal pain which turned out to be stage four bowl cancer.
Tallaght Hospital said sorry to Margaret Foley, 63, from Tallaght, Co Dublin as she settled her High Court action on Tuesday.
Mrs Foley, it was claimed when faced with an alleged material delay in obtaining appropriate scanning at the hospital arranged privately for a CT scan earlier this year. The private scan revealed a large bowel obstruction and Mrs Foley had to have surgery. Malignancy was also discovered.
The delay in the diagnosis it was claimed deprived Mrs Foley of an opportunity to treat and control her cancer. Mrs Foley is currently receiving palliative care.
Mrs Foley had been referred on June 13, 2017, by a GP and was placed on a waiting list for a colonoscopy at the Tallaght Hospital.
On June 8, 2018 her doctor wrote to the hospital saying Mrs Foley had severe episodes of lower abdominal abdominal pain and requested an urgent colonoscopy.
It was claimed she attended the emergency department of the hospital on numerous occasions in 2018 and this year presenting with a history of severe abdominal pain vomiting, dizziness weight loss and bleeding.
On each occasion, it was alleged she was discharged with a diagnosis of non-specific abdominal pain and without steps being taken to address her cancer which in the meantime spread.
Mrs Foley had a colonoscopy on January 11, 2019 at the hospital but it was claimed she was told she had a condition near to irritable bowel and was discharged with a review scheduled for six weeks later .
A Private CT scan on February 22 this year revealed a large bowel obstruction and she was referred back to the hospital where she underwent surgery.
Two-thirds of her bowel was removed and she later had to have bouts of chemotherapy. In July this year, Mrs Foley was informed the cancer had become terminal and she now receives palliative care.
In the apology read to the High Court, the Deputy Chief Executive of Tallaght University Hospital John Kelly said the medical team and hospital management fully acknowledge the failings in Mrs Foley’s care and the “most serious consequences as a result of these failings.”
He added: “We sincerely regret any trauma or hurt this has caused to you and your family. As a team we are reviewing your healthcare journey so we can learn from it and most importantly put in measures to ensure something like this does not happen again.”
The apology concluded: “You put your trust in us and on this occasion we fell short of the standards that you would expect and we are deeply sorry that this happened.”
The details of the settlement are confidential.
