£1m payout for mum's cancer ordeal
A YOUNG mum who has received a payout of nearly £1m from a hospital trust after cancer test blunders says no amount of money can give her future back.
After a six-year compensation battle against Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust, Samantha Burn, 31, is still desperately trying to come to terms at being left infertile and suffering a myriad of health problems, as a result of cancer failing to be detected on two cervical smear tests taken in 2001.
The mum-of-one, of Thurlby, said: "If someone sat me down and said 1m or my womb there would be no competition.
"What has kept me going throughout this ordeal is my beautiful baby Amy and my family, that is what makes my life worth living."
She said despite receiving the six-figure sum and an apology from the trust, she was still incredibly "angry" at being robbed of her chance to have another much-wanted child.
Previously fit and active, she now needs a walking stick because of problems with her hips due to radiotherapy. She also suffers severe bladder and bowel problems and, although she is in remission, there is still a 40 per cent chance the disease could return.
For this reason, Samantha and husband Nick were given the heartbreaking news that they could not adopt a little brother or sister for six-year-old Amy.
Samantha's ordeal began when she went for a routine cervical smear test on October 30, 2001. It was deemed "inadequate" and she was recalled for a second test on November 13, which she was told came out negative.
In April 2003, Sam fell pregnant with Amy but suffered serious pain and bleeding during her pregnancy, during which she was admitted to hospital nine times. As the baby was fine, no further action was taken and Amy was born healthy on December 10, 2003.
But Samantha's problems continued. Despite visits to her GP, she still had no diagnosis and decided to do a self-examination.
She found a lump and was finally referred by her GP to Peterborough District Hospital in March 2004, when doctors found a 4cm cancerous mass.
She was sent to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge and was told if she was not treated within eight weeks she could die – leaving too little time for them to freeze her eggs for future fertility treatment.
She said: "I couldn't even have my eggs frozen as that took eight weeks and they told me I didn't have that."
Her first thought was to marry Nick and within a whirlwind five weeks, they managed to tie the knot.
She visited solicitor Mehmooda Duke to complain about her treatment during her pregnancy. When reviewing her case notes, they realised that two vital chances to spot cancer on the smear tests had been missed.
If the disease had been caught sooner, treatment would been simpler – possibly avoiding her health problems and leaving her with a smaller chance of cancer recurring.
Mrs Duke said: "The greatest tragedy is that two opportunities to make the correct diagnosis were missed. What is reassuring is that the claim was taken seriously and it has been thoroughly investigated."
Samantha's husband Nick has given up long distance lorry driving to take on shorter trips and stay closer to home to help Samantha, who has been unable to return to her job as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities.
She has tried several part-time jobs but her health problems mean she is unlikely to work again.
Samantha describes her mum Michele Dodd as having been her "rock" throughout her ordeal.
Mrs Dodd said: "If I could take the pain away I would. I just hope that this will lead to more funding for tests so no-one else has to go through what Sam has suffered."
Samantha also hopes her case will lead to better procedures for cervical cancer screening and urged women to attend invitations for smear tests.
She said: "I wanted to speak out as I have been there. If this makes girls and women reading this just go and get a smear test than I have done the right thing."
Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it had settled Mrs Burn's case and that a formal apology had been made.
John Randall, Medical Director, said: "The Trust deeply regrets the errors in reporting Samantha's cervical smear test in 2001. The trust accepted that errors in Samantha's diagnosis had been made."
He said Samantha had received interim payments before the settlement this week and added that the smear test reporting system has been reviewed.
He said the trust's laboratory met and exceeded East of England Quality Assurance Team standards when inspected in 2002, 2005 and 2008.
He added: "If a patient is diagnosed with cervical cancer, the trust reviews a patient's previous smear results as part of the national audit of invasive cervical cancers.
"A review of maternity services was also undertaken and significant alternations were made to the maternity unit policies to ensure that any women presenting with bleeding are appropriately treated and
the causes thoroughly investigated.
"The trust strongly encourages all women who are offered a cervical smear to have the test as incidences of incorrect diagnosis are rare."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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