Yorkshire, UK – 9th December, 2016: A great-grandmother found out she had skin cancer on Christmas Eve - after doctors twice misread test results and told her she was cancer-free.
Mum-of-three Joyce Huck, 72, first discovered a suspicious growth the size of a 5p piece back in February 2013 - but after getting it removed doctors told her two biopsies had revealed it was benign.
The retired foreign exchange worker, from Keighley in North Yorkshire, returned to her doctor the following year when the black, itchy spot reappeared on her pubic region and she underwent a further biopsy.
Joyce was then called back to the hospital on Christmas Eve 2014 where doctors confirmed the black spot was in fact a malignant melanoma - an aggressive and potentially fatal form of skin cancer. This month she was awarded a five figure pay-out from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - after bosses admitted a member of staff had misread the results.
Joyce, who is married to husband Michael Huck, 74, said: "When I was first told the lump wasn't cancerous I was so relieved. "I had placed my trust in the doctors and just thought I could get on with my life. When it was removed, I thought that was the end of it, so when it started to grow back I was really concerned. It was frustrating to have to undergo further surgery but I was happy to have another operation to have the growth tested - I just wanted to get it sorted. I was looking forward to Christmas with the family when I got the call to go into hospital on Christmas Eve. I was devastated when I heard the word 'cancer'. I was astonished to discover the growth was actually cancer, after everything that had gone on. It was shocking to think I had been living with cancer for so long and it had been left untreated. The doctors should have looked at the biopsies properly in the first place. It should never have happened."
Joyce first spotted the black and brown spot in February 2013 and went under the knife at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford in May the same year to have the growth removed.
Doctors did two separate biopsy tests on the lump and at a follow up appointment six weeks after the surgery she was told both had shown it was non-cancerous. But Joyce became concerned when it reappeared and went back to her GP, who referred her to the Bradford Royal Infirmary where she had further surgery to take a biopsy of the regrowth.
Almost a year after her initial referral, she was called into the hospital on Christmas Eve 2014 and received the news the lump was in fact cancerous. It was not until the following month when Joyce was referred for plastic surgery that she discovered doctors had misread the biopsy results - which had showed she did have cancer.
In February 2015, she underwent a further operation at St James' Hospital in Leeds to remove the growth and take samples of her lymph nodes to find out if the cancer had spread to her internal organs - which luckily it hadn't.
Joyce said: "The Christmas Eve diagnosis was horrible - it was so hard trying not to think about it over the festive period. I told my family on Christmas Eve and my youngest son was very upset. But I had to try and hide it from the little ones and put on a brave face. The whole process was hugely stressful and caused me and my family a lot of anxiety. It was a difficult period between getting the cancer diagnosis and having to wait for the growth to be surgically removed. I felt strongly that I wanted to take this further to prevent it from happening to anyone else."
Joyce contacted medical negligence law firm Fletchers Solicitors to bring a claim against Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs St Luke's Hospital and the Bradford Royal Infirmary. The trust admitted a breach of duty, acknowledging a member of staff had misread the biopsy results, and settled Joyce's claim with a five figure out of court settlement.
Michael Carson, Joyce's lawyer, said: "Cases such as this go to show how careless mistakes made by medical professionals can seriously impact on a patient's life. As patients, we put our complete trust in doctors and don't expect scientific tests to be misinterpreted. This case has been traumatic for Joyce and her family and repeated mistakes were made. Luckily Joyce is now okay, despite having a scar, but this could have had extremely dire consequences if the misdiagnosis wasn't noticed when it was."
A spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are deeply sorry for the distress Mrs Huck has experienced as a result of the care she received at Bradford Royal Infirmary in 2013/2014. The care we provided fell below our usual high standards and we sincerely apologise to Mrs Huck for this. We are pleased for Mrs Huck that a settlement has been agreed between our respective solicitors.”
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gran-discovers-skin-cancer-christmas-9468082