A GRANDAD died of cancer which had gone undiagnosed for ten months after he first sought medical help.

Philip Clackett’s family have had grievances partially upheld after Colchester surgeons refused to send him for tests and then failed to tell him once a tumour had been spotted.

Mr Clackett, who died aged 61, went to see his GP when he started suffering from stomach pains in April last year.

The Harwich man’s doctor suspected he had cancer and referred him to a Colchester General Hospital consultant, asking for tests within a fortnight, in line with NHS rules.

The consultant said there were too few danger signs to justify the tests, and nothing was done for months.

In the meantime, Mr Clackett, of Witch Elm, began regularly vomiting and his weight dropped from 13 stone to eight stone.

His step-daughter Jodie Orr, of Cambrai Road, Colchester, said an ultra-sound and Computed Axial Tomography scan were eventually completed and results were due on February 11.

But when Mr Clackett went to collect them from his GP with his wife Karen, 51 – Jodie’s mother – he found they had still not been sent by the hospital.

The GP called the consultant’s personal assistant and Mrs Orr said he had been reassured over the phone cancer was not to blame for her step-father’s illness.

However, later the same day, Mr Clackett was taken seriously ill and admitted to the hospital.

Once there, he was seen by a doctor who looked at his scans and told him he probably did have cancer as there was a big mass of tissue on his liver and kidneys.

He was again referred to the consultant he had originally seen but, as no beds were available on the ward for people with gastric problems, he was sent to West Bergholt Ward instead. Four days went by with no further developments before Mrs Orr says she “kicked up a fuss” and a doctor and dietician examined her step-father and confirmed the cancer diagnosis.

They said surgery was impossible because the disease had spread too far and Mr Clackett probably had between three and six months to live. He died on May 10.

New mum Mrs Orr, 26, who was pregnant at the time, said: “Even after all the long delays, there was never a time when they sat us down in a room and told us he had cancer.

“He was just kept hanging around until we complained.

“We raised an official grievance asking why there was such a delay with the diagnosis and why the GP was told it wasn’t cancer, but they seemed to just keep coming up with excuses.

“I honestly think if they had acted when he first started to feel unwell, he might still be alive today.”

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust has upheld one of the family’s nine concerns, and partially upheld five others.

'If we make mistakes, we admit them'

COLCHESTER Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust spokesman Mark Prentice said: “We wish to express our sympathy and condolences to the family and friends of Mr Clackett following his death earlier this month.

“Mrs Orr outlined nine concerns at a meeting at Colchester Hospital in March.

“Peter Murphy, chief executive, wrote to her in detail last month with the outcome of our investigation, in which each concern was addressed individually. Three of her concerns were not upheld, five were partially upheld and one was upheld.

“Where appropriate, we have apologised and stated what steps we are taking to improve our services.

“Whenever patients or their families draw our attention to particular concerns, we treat it as an excellent opportunity to review the care individual patients receive and to make changes, if appropriate.

“If we make mistakes, we admit to them and implement changes for the benefit of future patients.

“While we take all complaints seriously, it is worth pointing out that for each complaint made, the trust receives 22 compliments.”