Hospital trust apologises after 'substandard' care led to mum's bowel cancer death

A hospital trust has apologised for their failings after a mum died shortly after being sent away from A&E twice.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has apologised for the "substandard care" given after a mum from Smethwick, died shortly after receiving a bowel cancer diagnosis.

Baljeet Kaur was sent home from A&E twice after describing symptoms of pain, vomiting and bleeding.

She underwent an X-ray at Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich in January 2019 but was sent home.

A month after her last appointment she returned to A&E where she had another scan and was once again discharged.

Following numerous hospital visits, a mass was identified in Baljeet's abdomen.

She underwent surgery to remove part of her bowel and was left with a stoma - a medical bag which allows the bowel to open outside of the body.

She was then diagnosed with bowel cancer and shortly after was transferred to palliative care. Sadly, Baljeet died in February 2020 at just 56 years old.

Baljeet’s heartbroken family have spoken out about the pain she suffered from in her last months alive.

Her daughter Amandeep Kaur Bhogal, 38, said: "To lose mum less than a year after her diagnosis was truly heartbreaking and something we were in no way prepared for."

Ms Bhogal adds: "She was the most loving mum and would have done anything for anybody. It's really tough for us to accept that she's no longer here, particularly after finding out it was terminal just one month after her surgery.

"Cancer is a terrible disease and it’s taken away one of the most important people in our lives.

"What makes it worse is that we feel like more could have been done to help mum and we feel we raised our concerns several times."

She continued: "We would give anything to have mum back with us, but we know that's not possible."

"To watch her in so much pain and suffering towards the end was the worst, and all we can hope for now is that by sharing our story we can raise awareness of bowel cancer.

"Catching it early could be the difference between life and death for other families."

Hospital 'very sorry for the delay in diagnosis'

Now the hospital trust has admitted Baljeet was negligently discharged in January 2019 and again in February 2019.

It further admitted that had Baljeet been diagnosed she would have avoided two or three months of pain and suffering.

Mark Anderson, chief medical officer for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, apologised for what happened.

He said: "We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family of Ms Kaur and are very sorry for the delay in diagnosis."