Sussex grandmother’s cancer ignored for six months

1:10pm Thursday 31st January 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter

Maddy Pratt-Hooson with her daughter Laura and granddaughter Maddy Pratt-Hooson with her daughter Laura and granddaughter

A grandmother died from colon cancer after being repeatedly told by doctors she was just constipated.

The health service has been accused of failing widow Maddy Pratt-Hooson, 66, who visited GPs at Quayside Medical Practice in Newhaven twice a week for six months complaining of severe abdominal pains.

But each time she was told not to worry and was sent back home to her bungalow in Norton Terrace in the town, where she lived alone.

Mrs Pratt-Hooson, a mother-of-three, was eventually rushed to Royal Sussex County Hospital in the middle of the night after calling her daughter Laura Hooson in agony.

A large tumour was found and she was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Less than four weeks later, she died at the Martlets Hospice.

Laura, 25, said: “She was failed by the NHS in every aspect – by the doctors, hospital, everyone.

“She saw various doctors at her local surgery for six months but no-one properly examined her.

“She even saw out of hours doctors at the hospital, but they all kept telling her she had constipation.

“Mum wasn’t the type of person to complain. It was strange that none of her doctors seemed to notice anything, especially because my nan had colon cancer too.

Getting her down

“She thought that she had gone crazy and the pain was just in her head.

“It got her really down and depressed. One night she rang me in the middle of the night, crying her eyes out, and we got an ambulance to her and she ended up in hospital.

“That was on October 1, but it wasn’t until October 11 that she was diagnosed with colon cancer.

“By then we were told that nothing could be done for her apart from keeping her comfortable. She was devastated.

“She came home for a couple of weeks but her final days were spent in a hospice, as she went downhill fast and she passed away on November 5.

'Unnecessary pain'

“She suffered unnecessary pain and distress for the last seven months of her life due to NHS negligence and I think the public should be informed.”

Mum-of-one Laura, from Brighton, said she had tried to sue the NHS on her mother’s behalf, but was told she was not allowed because she was over 18.

She is now consulting solicitors to see what other options she has.

She said she has complained to East Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust, which runs the doctors’ surgery.

Concerned

A spokeswoman from the trust said: “We sympathise with Mrs Pratt-Hooson’s family for their loss.

“No family members have raised any concerns about her care or treatment with the GP practice, the hospital trust or NHS Sussex.

“Concerns and complaints are always taken seriously and there is a robust process to ensure they are investigated fully.”

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Comments(15)

NickBrt says...
1:45pm Thu 31 Jan 13

This is terrible. the family deserves all our support. the spokeswoman from the Trust demonstrated about zero people skills from the text of her quote.

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tooned_in says...
2:06pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Sounds to me like a failing in the system, having been through it and also told I was constipated when that had nothing to do with the final correct diagnosis I sympathise with the departed....if we are to continue to pay through our taxes for the nhs then its about time we got the due care we are paying for.

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668 The neighbour of the beast says...
2:32pm Thu 31 Jan 13

If true then it is very sad. However, the headline only shows that the Argus appears prepared to publish accusations as fact?

If the family have really not raised concerns with the Practice, Trust, or NHS Sussex then the Argus should have found out why before publishing this article?

If she has only consulted a solicitor then this needs to be reported.

If the none of the family were present in the examinations then it's hard to see how they know what went on?

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Morpheus says...
2:44pm Thu 31 Jan 13

I thought that bowel cancer test kits were sent out to everybody in her age group. There is no mention of this. If she did not receive one it is an even bigger failure.

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mimseycal says...
3:38pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Communication is vital. Doctors, with all the best will in the world, can only go on what they are told.
If you feel that you are not getting through to a doctor or another medical professional then maybe you should take someone along with you when next you visit the surgery.
My doctor, with all the best will in the world could not have reacted any differently from what I was able to tell him. It wasn't till I decided to keep a diary, detailing everything, and sent that to him before my next visit that it became clear that we weren't talking about someone who was just overweight. Several tests later I was successfully diagnosed.

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macdbn says...
4:15pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Hang on a second,
She has tried to sue the NHS and has failed and now she is trying to sue someone else...this is because ??
Sounds like jumping on the lets sue wagon.
This is the problem with society at the moment, accuse and sue first then get a harsh reality check later in the failings of one self.

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twinglemum says...
4:31pm Thu 31 Jan 13

I sympathise with this family, but sueing the NHS will not bring the lady back and will only cause more heartache. A very similar thing happened with my mother who visited her dr continuously for 4 years to be told each time that she was suffering from IBS. Eventually she paid privately for a Lifescan and this revealed a massive tumour that unfortunately was inoperable and she passed away 10 months later. I have no doubt that had she been diagnosed sooner she would still be with us. There is an awful lot of pressure on GPs today and this is a situation that needs looking at and dealing with on a very timely basis.

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lorrie1 says...
5:59pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Looks like its been cut and pasted out of yesterdays daily mail. r.i.p

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Unbias says...
7:31pm Thu 31 Jan 13

First and foremost my condolences to all concerned, within the past Month I have lost a brother to this b*****d disease....and 3 other close members of my family over the past 10 years too.

May I take a view on this that I have?

The population that work give 'x' amount of their earnings to the NHS etc...a percentage also goes to the upkeep of the unemployed.

Those that need help, I as a person fortunate to be in secure full-time employment (and work 70 hours a week myself to survive) am happy to do so.......

Is it not about time we ALL learned to smell the coffee....the leechers please get real and the cash 'we' earners pay into the system are used in a proper way?.....those that cannot find nor work I am here for you but the rest annoy me so much, that cash of mine/ours could have prevented this and numerious other people......mabey even me One day?

Mabey, just mabey One single bad claim not made could have allowed cash to save Maddy, my Mum, Dad, Sister or Brother?

Pleaase don't knock the NHS, they work their b***s off........anger/opi
nions need to be pointed in the right direction......not a reply to a news item that you will forget in an hour.

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Athena says...
11:02pm Thu 31 Jan 13

668 The neighbour of the beast wrote:
If true then it is very sad. However, the headline only shows that the Argus appears prepared to publish accusations as fact?

If the family have really not raised concerns with the Practice, Trust, or NHS Sussex then the Argus should have found out why before publishing this article?

If she has only consulted a solicitor then this needs to be reported.

If the none of the family were present in the examinations then it's hard to see how they know what went on?
Your comments are full of PC legal-speak and suspicion. Do you honestly think 6 months of untreated constipation suddenly developed into bowel cancer and that she was dead within 3 weeks of diagnosis? She was ignored probably because she was perceived as being too old to bother with at 66, which isn't that old.

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yaddab says...
12:26am Fri 1 Feb 13

Sorry Guys and Gals

But this just sounds like a money grabbing relative up for a few bucks

Why were they not with their mum supporting them more before hand .

Money grabber, who could not be bothered to spend the time before hand, grasping for what they can after the event

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Mother/Daughter says...
10:52am Fri 1 Feb 13

The medical authorities are so good at issuing apologies AFTER the death of a loved one. How on earth do some people become doctors? My mother died of DVT after the doctors diagnosed a virus; even when she called the surgery unable to breathe, they were unconcerned; she died a couple of days later. My father died of a rare form of liver cancer and was not properly diagnosed until a couple of days before he died. His doctor was completely without passion; we were told he is dying; just accept it! Caring profession? Care for the pocket not for the people who are in their mercy. There are just too many stories like this; can you blame people going abroad for treatment?

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mimseycal says...
11:19am Fri 1 Feb 13

Death is always a horrendous fact to face. Made worse when it is a loved one and there are feelings of guilt and 'if only I had ...' to make matters worse.

I am sorry you have lost someone but ... let's be frank. Life is a one way ticket towards death from the moment of conception and we shouldn't shrink from it so much.

Also, doctors are, when all is said and done, only human beings with training in a particular area. That doesn't automatically confer superhuman status on them. They do not suddenly become endowed with omniscience or omnipotence along with their medical degree. Not only that but they will still have all the failings the rest of humanity struggles with. They need to be given the correct information in order that they may reach the correct diagnosis.

If you feel that your doctor is not taking your concerns seriously enough, then you have alternatives available. We need to be willing to take responsibility for our own health and well being as well and cannot just leave it to the medical profession.

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exbtnbabe says...
11:31am Fri 1 Feb 13

this makes me so ANGRY i myself am having longterm test ect and they keep saying they dnt no what wrong and yes it does make you think its all in your head i hope this family push this further i know it wnt bring Grandma back but it will show the NHS they cant just push people aside

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Tom V says...
9:13pm Sun 3 Feb 13

yaddab wrote:
Sorry Guys and Gals

But this just sounds like a money grabbing relative up for a few bucks

Why were they not with their mum supporting them more before hand .

Money grabber, who could not be bothered to spend the time before hand, grasping for what they can after the event
I disagree. People sue the NHS for various reasons and one of them is in the hope that things change. She's fighting for her mum in the only way that's left and trying to make someone pay for their mistakes, not just financially but to recognise that they made a fatal mistake.

A friend lost their mother through incompetence at her hospital and sued. The money didn't bring her mother back but paying it ensured that the local hospital made changes which might save others going through the same heartache.

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