Whitstable mum who lost 7st after cancer misdiagnosis says ‘lessons not learned’

A mum-of-four who endured cancer chemotherapy after being misdiagnosed with the disease says a hospital trust “has not learned from its mistakes”.

Janice Johnston says she has “absolutely no faith in doctors” after being told by Kent and Canterbury Hospital staff she could “drop down dead” at any moment.

The 56-year-old’s barbed remarks come after figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request reveal East Kent Hospitals University Trust (EKHUT) has paid out £1.5 million in cancer misdiagnosis claims and delayed diagnosis in the past five years.

Astonishing figures also reveal the trust has settled 14 claims since 2019.

Meanwhile, the NHS has paid out an eye-watering £128 million in the past five years, an investigation by Medical Negligence Assist shows.

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Ms Johnston, who was one of those misdiagnosed, suffered from receding gums, aching bones, nausea, fatigue and dizziness during the gruelling treatment.

Her weight plummeted to just seven stone after being told she had a rare form of the disease.

The former auxiliary nurse was forced to quit her job after being told she would have to take tablets to tackle polycythaemia rubra vera (PRV) for the rest of her life.

Speaking to KentOnline, the Whitstable resident says it is “shocking” EKHUT has paid out £1.5 million in cancer misdiagnosis claims.

“It is quite a lot of money,” she said. “I do not think it has learned from its mistakes.”

Mrs Johnston was told she had the rare cancer, which affects just two in every 100,000 people, in April 2017 after experiencing high blood pressure, blurred vision and dizziness.

She compares her symptoms before the diagnosis to “putting your head in a vice and tightening it”.

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Medics at Kent and Canterbury decided she had PRV – a disease of the bone marrow that causes the overproduction of red blood cells – without carrying out a biopsy or ultrasound scans.

The doctors’ diagnosis was guided by the results of blood tests showing she had a high number of red blood cells.

Over the following year and a half, Janice says the doses of chemotherapy were increased whenever she reported that her condition had not improved.

The married mum was also treated with a venesection – a procedure that removes blood from the circulatory system – every fortnight.

“It had a big impact on my life as I had to give up my job,” she added.

“I had the chemotherapy treatment which compromised my immune system.

“For about two years, I was told I could drop dead at any moment from a heart attack or stroke. It was all needless.

“If they had done the initial tests at the very beginning, I would not have had to go through any of it.”

When she told doctors she wanted to try other kinds of treatment, she was sent to speak to specialists at Guy’s Hospital.

During an appointment there in November 2018, she says her consultant told her almost immediately: “I don’t think you’ve got polycythaemia at all.”

The doctor’s suspicions were confirmed two months later after receiving the results of a bone marrow biopsy and an ultrasound scan of her spleen.

The misdiagnosis had a lasting impact on her, including how she views healthcare professionals.

“I have absolutely no faith in doctors, especially Kent and Canterbury Hospital,” she said.

“They could tell me tomorrow I have cancer but I would not believe them for a minute because of what they have done.”

Janice instructed solicitors to pursue a medical negligence claim against the East Kent Hospitals Trust.

The case was settled out of court for £75,950 after the trust admitted liability.

Tests showed that Janice has a non-cancerous condition that causes her to produce high numbers of red blood cells.

Responding to the £1.5 million paid out over the past five years, EKHUT’s chief medical officer says he is “saddened” patients in its care had these experiences and “would like to apologise to them and their families”.

Des Holden said: “When things go wrong, we work hard to identify what happened, what needs to be done differently and any lessons that can be learned, including additional training that can be shared with colleagues to improve our services.

“Over the past five years, our cancer service has seen and started to treat more than 13,000 patients from across east Kent.”