Cancer-stricken grandmother is ‘sent home with paracetamol’ after tumour doubled in size ‘while waiting three months for NHS treatment’
Distraught girl accused NHS of ‘failing’ after sending her cancer-stricken mother ‘home with paracetamol’.
Marie Stibbe, 79, a retiree from Tiverton, Devon, was diagnosed with liver cancer at the beginning of March because her ‘legs were so itchy she couldn’t sleep and she was finding life so difficult’.
A blood test revealed that he had suddenly developed diabetes; This is another symptom of advanced liver cancer. Even though she falsely claimed she had ovarian cancer.
But the liver disease was confirmed by a CT scan a month later, and it took another three months before Marie began treatment, her daughter claimed; At this point his tumor had doubled in size.
Rachael Stibbe, 44, from Kent, told the Daily Mail she had to consult a private liver doctor after the NHS refused to continue her mother’s treatment, claiming her liver function had decreased so much.
He said: ‘The doctors at Exeter hospital were really quite mean to him. “I could refer you to chemotherapy, but that would only buy you a few more weeks. I recommend you go home and enjoy the life you have left,” one said.
‘They literally sent him home to die. The doctor said, “I give you six to 12 months,” and sent him off with a pack of paracetamol. ‘He was so insensitive, there was no patient care whatsoever.’
Rachael added: ‘He’s really depressed, he thinks his life is over.’
It said it took three months for the NHS to start treatment for Marie Stibbe (centre) after her diagnosis, by which point her tumor had doubled in size (seen with her husband and daughter)
The 79-year-old, who is retired from Tiverton, Devon, was diagnosed with liver cancer at the beginning of March.
After ‘losing faith’ in the NHS, Rachael sought the advice of a liver surgeon at Kings College Hospital; so he wrote a report saying Marie needed an MRI and PET scan, urgent combination therapy including immunotherapy, and that if started immediately she would have many years to live.
But after monitoring the Exeter hospital’s oncology team for at least six weeks, they allegedly refused to consider the report and said it would make no difference to Marie’s treatment.
When Marie was diagnosed, she had a ‘compensated liver’, meaning that although the tissue was scarred, it could function relatively normally.
But Exeter Hospital allegedly refused to carry out an MRI scan following the diagnosis, so Rachael privately paid for an MRI scan in May, which showed the tumor had grown from seven centimeters to 14.9.
His liver had reached the ‘decompensated’ stage, which could greatly reduce his life expectancy. Marie’s gallbladder also collapsed and her spleen was enlarged.
Rachael claimed Exeter Hospital did not review the MRI report.
It took three months for Marie to receive her first immunotherapy treatment from Exeter Hospital; this was well above the NHS’s 62-day cancer pathway rule.
This is a national standard designed to ensure that patients do not face dangerous delays when they have a life-threatening illness.
The Exeter hospital has failed to meet this standard for a decade since 2016 because ‘patients continue to wait too long for cancer treatment and risk their health deteriorating as a result of the delay’, according to a report by the Care Quality Commission.
Rachael Stibbe (pictured), 44, from Kent, said she had to consult a private liver doctor after the NHS refused to continue her mother’s treatment.
Mother of three takes photos with her two-year-old grandson and fears she won’t see him grow up
After ‘losing faith’ in the NHS, Rachael sought the advice of a liver surgeon at Kings College Hospital (pictured with her dogs)
Rachael said: ‘The doctor was very arrogant and not interested in investigating why his liver function was falling and whether this could potentially be corrected.
‘The Exeter NHS oncologist refused to answer our questions and told him there was nothing more they could do.
‘Exeter Hospital caused unacceptable delays and refused to provide basic information to my family. They were very slow at everything; I think they were negligent.’
Rachael added: ‘He won’t get to see his grandchild grow up.’
He said his mother had cirrhosis, which means permanent scarring of the liver, but the oncology team allegedly never worked with the liver team, which is typically standard practice.
Rachael said: ‘The truth is that this definitely needed to go on throughout and I personally don’t think his liver will have deteriorated enough in the last few weeks to justify stopping treatment.
‘The decline in liver function may be temporary but they do not want to investigate further and of course that would be up to the liver team who deleted the case in March.’
Marie also suffered from extremely swollen legs where fluid buildup had seeped into the tissue, but Exeter Hospital allegedly failed to help relieve the painful symptoms and refused to drain the excess fluid when water pills did not work.
‘He was literally suffering every day and they didn’t care. They were not helping to relieve his pain or take responsibility for his symptoms. The distraught girl said they said it was a GP issue and it was terrible.
Rachael and family now considering private treatment abroad in India
A cancer patient needed urgent treatment from a maxillofacial specialist after losing a front tooth that made it difficult for him to eat.
But Rachael claims the Exeter Hospital oncologist refused to receive relevant letters, refused to contact the maxillofacial team and her referral was downgraded from urgent to standard.
‘He won’t be alive when they offer him a dental/maxillofacial appointment because there’s so much backlog.
“This is disgusting behavior and shows failure by the liver department, the oncology department and the maxillofacial department,” Marie’s daughter said.
The 44-year-old also complained to the NHS’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service but said he had received no response to any of his concerns.
He said: ‘I emailed PALS and received an automated email response saying I would hear back within 50 days. They don’t monitor their emails.
‘As a result, I asked a lot of questions and to date I have not received an answer.’
Rachael and her family are currently seeking specialized treatment abroad in India. The family has special treatment plans and they say they can save him.
But it is expected to cost more than £100,000 and Rachael has launched a project. GoFundMe seeks donations to help ‘lovely’ mother who is the ‘backbone’ of her family.
She wrote on the donation page: ‘Please help us save my beloved mother. He did not deserve to be treated so badly by the NHS and he is the backbone of our family.
‘Our family would fall apart without her and my father wouldn’t be able to cope. In fact, we are afraid that he will either end his life or die of a broken heart. ‘After 56 years of marriage.’
She added: ‘Mum waited 40 years for a grandchild and finally had Liam, a beautiful 2-year-old boy who loved his grandmother.
‘It’s heartbreaking that he pays his taxes and has such an altruistic view of child benefit, and that the NHS repays him in this way. Liam is now faced with growing up without his grandmother but he doesn’t understand; He’s only two years old.’
Exeter Hospital said: ‘The concerns raised by Ms Stibbe are currently being investigated through our complaints process and we have kept her informed of the status of these investigations.
‘Once our investigations are complete, we will respond directly to their concerns.’
