A mother from Northampton whose incorrect cancer test results almost killed her, only insisted on a life-saving one after Jade Goody’s fatal illness.
Claire Millward, aged 37, from Delapre, endured a string of errors in tests for cancer that had doctors believing she was fine.
In fact, by the time she insisted on a smear test at her GP surgery in February 2008, before she was due one, NGH could have spotted the early signs of cervical cancer in tests three and five years before.
And when the news finally came, she claims the hospital told her she had ovarian cancer, which has a survival rate four times less than cervical, leading her to believe for two weeks she faced almost certain death.
She then had a needless hysterectomy, robbing her of the chance to have more children when she and husband Carl were trying for a brother or sister for Jamie, now aged eight.
Harvey Ingram solicitors, in Leicester, have now forced the hospital to admit the cancer could have been treated earlier and won £50,000 compensation.
Neil Clayton, of Harvey Ingram, who settled Claire’s case, said “Though mistakes like those in Claire’s case are very rare, they highlight the need for hospitals to regularly review and monitor their cervical screening processes.”
Claire, who is now all clear, said: “When I went for the smear test in February 2008, my mother had just died of cancer and then it was all over the news about [TV star] Jade Goody’s cervical cancer.
“I’m not normally a pushy person, but something in me made me say to the receptionist I wasn’t leaving until I got an emergency test booked.
“I’m so glad I did, if not I would have been dead by June.
“If nothing else comes of my story I want to encourage people to have a smear test that might save your life, like Jade Goody saved mine.”
BOSSES at Northampton General Hospital have said smear test errors were very rare.
A spokesman said: “We have apologised to Mrs Millward for the failings.
“We accept that, regrettably, those smears were incorrectly reported and that this may have contributed to a delayed diagnosis of glandular neoplasia. We are truly sorry for those errors.
“We carry out thousands of cervical smear tests annually, and we would like to reassure all our patients that this is a most exceptional case.
“Nevertheless we are determined to learn from it and we have reviewed our procedures to ensure there is no recurrence of the failings experienced by Mrs Millward.”