Mother, 41, died after bungling doctors missed aggressive cancer ELEVEN TIMES in a year and said her sore throat was just tonsillitis

Victoria Wyers-Roebuck was diagnosed with tonsillitis due to sore throat

Actually had a rare but aggressive form of lymphoma/leukaemia



Failings in her care meant she was only diagnosed after her death last June

Her GP admitted that a lack of continuity of care may have caused her death



Coroner blamed the 'failure of the NHS system, not an individual'

A mother of four died after ten different doctors over 11 months failed to spot that she had cancer, an inquest heard.

Victoria Wyers-Roebuck, 41, was diagnosed with tonsillitis when she complained of a sore throat. It was only after her death that the rare nasal cancer was diagnosed.

Coroner Ian Smith criticised the NHS over its failure to recognise the condition and what he described as ‘a complete lack of urgency’.

Victoria Jane Wyers-Roebuck, 41, (with daughter Katie) died after 10 different doctors over 11 months failed to spot she had cancer. She was only diagnosed with the disease after her death

The inquest heard how Miss Wyers-Roebuck, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, went to see her local GP at Norwood Medical Centre in July 2011 complaining of a very sore throat. She was diagnosed with tonsillitis. Over the next 11 months she visited the surgery 12 times, seeing a number of different doctors.

She also attended Furness General Hospital six times, including the accident and emergency department, and was admitted three times.

Miss Wyers-Roebuck’s GP, Dr Steve McQuillan, said that with hindsight if she had been seeing just one doctor she may have had an earlier referral to see a specialist. He added: ‘I have been a GP for over 20 years and I suspect continuity of care was better back then.’

The inquest into her death heard the 'the failure of the NHS system' contributed to Ms Wyers-Roebuck's death. Her GP admitted that had she seen just one doctor when she returned to the surgery, she may have had an earlier referral to a specialist

Miss Wyers-Roebuck’s mother, Paula, said her daughter had been unhappy with the medical care. ‘All she wanted to do was to be pain-free and continue living her life without suffering,’ she said.

Her partner, Kevin Nelson, 39, said: ‘Vicky complained of a sore throat but at no point did she even think it could be cancer. Vicky was let down by the NHS and doctors, who should have picked it up.’

Miss Wyers-Roebuck had her tonsils removed at Furness Hospital on May 1, 2012 and they were sent off to be tested. Because of a backlog at the lab, the results did not come back until after Miss Wyers-Roebuck had died on June 20 from organ failure brought on by the disease.

The surgeon, Mohammad Yuseff Main, blamed himself for not chasing up the results. He said new guidelines meant all results were chased up after two weeks.

The coroner said there had been ‘a lack of continuity’ at the GPs’ surgery and the hospital. ‘They all just got a bit of the picture rather than the whole picture,’ said Mr Smith. ‘This is the failure of the NHS system not an individual.



The chief executive of Furness General Hospital (pictured) said she was 'truly sorry' and that elements of Mrs Wyers-Roebuck's care 'should have been done differently'

‘There is a complete lack of urgency about the system sometimes.’ He recorded a verdict of death by natural causes. The hearing at Furness Magistrates’ Court heard that the cancer was so rare there have been only 12 cases in eight years in the north of England.

Jackie Daniel, the chief executive of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which is responsible for Furness Hospital, said the organisation was ‘truly sorry’ and that elements of Miss Wyers-Roebuck’s care ‘should have been done differently’.

‘Following her death, we carried out an internal review of her care to understand what happened. We also instructed an external clinician to look at the case,’ said Miss Daniel. ‘The outcome of these reviews showed that there were elements of the care that should have been done differently.

‘Miss Wyers-Roebuck was suffering from a very rare and very aggressive form of lymphoma/leukaemia and whilst we cannot be sure whether the outcome would have been different had the diagnosis been made quicker, we did let her down and for that we are truly sorry.’