A coroner has issued a stark warning to an NHS trust over "neglect" that contributed to a patient's death from cancer. The South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust failed to identify Anne Lorraine Dyson's fatal lung cancer despite monitoring her condition for more than three years.
Anne Lorraine Dyson, aged 68, died at St Benedict's Hospice in Sunderland on February 24. She had been diagnosed with terminal metastatic lung cancer just four months earlier, after the trust had been investigating her lung disease since September 2021.
Critical diagnostic delays
Scans showed increased growth in Dyson's lung from October 2023, but crucial warning signs were missed. A CT scan was wrongly interpreted on March 25, 2024, delaying the cancer diagnosis by many months.
By the time the malignancy was finally identified, it could no longer be successfully treated. An inquest into Dyson's death concluded she died of "natural causes contributed to by neglect".
Systemic radiologist failures
Senior coroner David Place highlighted serious shortcomings in how medical scans are interpreted at the trust. The evidence showed "no consistent approach" among radiologists, which could lead to dangerous "confirmation bias".
Radiologists are not provided with patient symptom lists or details of health complaints that prompted the scans. They also lack information about new or changed symptoms during the investigation period.
Wider safety concerns
The coroner expressed concern that this information gap restricts radiologists' focus to limited scan aspects rather than comprehensive interpretation. This approach means potential diagnoses and treatments can be "significantly delayed" when abnormalities are missed.
David Place sent copies of his prevention of future deaths report to the trust, Dyson's family and the Care Quality Commission. He requested details of any learning from this death and timescales for implementing changes.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
