Mum has weeks to live after being 'refused brain scans'

A woman given just weeks to live after being diagnosed with four brain tumours has hit out over the 18 months it took to get a scan.

Mum-of-two Lindsey Scrimshire claims medics at Leicester Royal Infirmary did not scan her when she complained of violent headaches in August 2011 following a battle with breast cancer.

The 52-year-old said despite repeated requests for a brain scan, she did not have one until last month.

It was then that doctors found the cancer had spread, causing four tumours in her brain.

She has been given weeks to live and has now planned her own funeral.

Mrs Scrimshire, a grandmother of four, said: "I feel I have been very badly let down by the hospital.

"I kept asking to be scanned but was repeatedly told it was not necessary. They should have listened to me, but I made the mistake of listening to them.

"If it had been caught earlier, maybe I would have had the opportunity to fight it or beat it."

She told a nurse she was suffering violent headaches in 2011, after she finished treatment for breast cancer, which included a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

She said: "I told the nurse I had severe headaches and pain down my shoulder – the side where the breast cancer was.

"I asked if I should be scanned to check if it was cancer as I was worried, but she said it was not necessary.

"I was confused as to why I was not given a scan. The pain was such I went to see my GP regularly."

The former County Hall customer services supervisor said she had an X-ray in October 2011 and was told by her GP she was suffering from arthritis and was given pain-killers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Mrs Scrimshire, of Earl Shilton, said she went to Glenfield Hospital for her yearly cancer check-up in February last year.

"Once again, I told the nurse about my violent headaches and pains."

In the same month, Mrs Scrimshire went to her GP's surgery and was again told she was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and given drugs.

Mrs Scrimshire said she also went for an operation to remove a bowel blockage at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

She said: "I told them about my pain and worries but was told a scan was not necessary."

She said she was finally scanned after she went into the accident and emergency department at the LRI on April 22 because the pain was so bad.

Mrs Scrimshire's husband, Mark, 47, said: "A doctor came back with the results and she was crying. She told us Lindsey had four large tumours in her brain and there was nothing they could do but give her palliative care.

"Then a full body scan showed it is in her lungs and liver, too.

"If they had scanned Lindsey when she asked, nearly two years before, or even last year, she might have a chance of at least fighting the cancer."

Claire Esler, consultant oncologist and clinical head of service at Leicester's Hospitals, said: "We are sorry Lindsey did not receive a scan at her follow-up appointment but it was felt the symptoms were not related to the breast cancer.

"Lindsey's treatment for cancer back in 2011 was appropriate and under national guidance we do not scan patients after treatment."

Mr Scrimshire said he has consulted a solicitor and is considering suing the trust.