Dying woman calls for change to NHS rules as cancer misses twice

A dying woman whose cancer was twice ignored by medical professionals says a lesson “must be learned”. Anne Shaw, 68, said her “whole life has completely changed” since the terminal diagnosis.

She said the news “devastated” her. Ms Shaw has previously survived breast and ovarian cancer, getting the all clear from doctors after having one ovary removed.

However, a routine scan of her hip in 2019 showed another tumor on her remaining ovary that went undetected by doctors. She is now calling for the introduction of Anne’s Rule, which requires two radiologists, one of whom specializes in cancer, to check all scan results in cases where clinicians suspect the presence of the disease.

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Currently, only mammograms – breast X-rays used to diagnose breast cancer – are reviewed by two radiologists, as standard practice. Ms Shaw told the PA news agency: “If a cancer specialist had looked at this x-ray and seen it in 2019, I would only have needed chemotherapy and maybe regular check-ups.”

“But because it wasn’t resolved, I required life-changing surgery – my whole life completely changed,” Ms Shaw said, adding: “Ms Shaw is now requesting that lessons be learned from his situation.

“I think when this consultant looked at my x-ray he just had tunnel vision on my upper thigh. He didn’t look at the whole X-ray,” she told PA. “And that’s fine, that was his job.