A HEALTH board has launched an inquiry after a complaint that a
trainee GP told a cancer victim that his illness was all in his mind.
It was later discovered that bricklayer Peter Taylor had a tumour so
big it had almost engulfed his right lung.
Mr Taylor, 54, of Newpark Road, Stirling, was finally confirmed as
having cancer by doctors at Stirling Royal Infirmary last July, after he
staggered in agony into the casualty department. He died three weeks
later.
A post mortem examination confirmed the huge tumour and a string of
secondary tumours that riddled his body.
His widow, Mrs Helen Taylor, 51, said yesterday that her husband made
repeated visits to a health centre in Stirling between falling ill last
May and his death in August.
He was prescribed antibiotics, sent for an endoscopy internal
examination at Stirling Royal Infimary which proved negative, and
finally handed over to a trainee GP at the health centre.
Mrs Taylor said the trainee doctor, who has since moved on, prescribed
paracetamol and Prozac, telling him his problems were stress related.
She finally went with her husband to see the trainee GP last July.
''I said to the doctor 'do you think that Peter could please have an
X-ray?'
''The doctor turned and he looked at me and he looked at Peter and he
said: 'Well, we don't want to go down that road, X-rays, tubes, needles,
tests etc, because I really am convinced this is all in your mind . . .
I am sending a letter off this afternoon for an appointment for you to
see a psychologist'.''
Three days later, Mr Taylor was in so much pain he could not walk to a
corner shop near his home. He went to the casualty department where
doctors drew two and a half pints of fluid off his affected lung. Two
days later cancer was confirmed.
A spokeswoman for Forth Valley Health Board yesterday refused to name
the trainee GP, but said Mrs Taylor's complaint was being investigated.
Written statements collected by the board's primary care manager, Mr
Duncan Harris, will be referred to a Medical Service Committee. If the
committee chairman, Mr Colin Stroyan, considers there is a prima facie
breach of a doctor's terms of service, there will be a hearing with both
parties present.
The spokeswoman said the procedure could take ''several months'',
after which there was a right of appeal to the Secretary of State.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article