A mum almost died of cervical cancer after being given the wrong result for a routine smear.
Sarah Feighan, 32, is urging people to turn up for every smear test and to be sure their results have been recorded accurately.
Sarah – who was given the wrong results by Forth Valley Health Board – was diagnosed with “neuroendocrine small cell cancer” in 2018 and had surgery, including the removal of her womb.
Damage caused by the operation has left her unable to urinate naturally and she will have to use a catheter for life, making her prone to infections.
The mum of one said: “I thought I was going to die.
“By the time I was diagnosed, I was desperately ill. The medics were talking about prolonging my life for as long as possible rather than giving me hope of being cured.
“The really galling thing – and I only learned this last year when a lawyer acting for me demanded paperwork from my original smear in 2013 – was that the first smear had detected many pre-cancerous cells.
“The document I was sent back by Forth Valley Health Board said my test was ‘negative’ but the actual results told a different story.
“I should have been called back for a colposcopy and might have needed wire loop treatment, which I know is not pleasant but would have been preferable to developing full-blown cervical cancer.”
Sarah, who now lives in Manchester, had an English law firm trying to bring a civil claim against the board. However, counsel’s opinion took them below the 70 per cent chance of success estimate they apply to take cases on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Sarah had been called back for another routine smear in 2016 but didn’t attend due to major stresses in her personal life, and her condition would have been picked up at that point.
She said: “The legal argument was there might not have been significant changes between 2013 and 2016 because I only started to experience symptoms around 2017, with pain and bleeding.
“So it was considered arguable that I had contributed to my misfortune. But if I had been given any indication that I had anything to worry about, of course I’d have gone back for the smear in 2016.”
Sarah, who works in security, said she hadn’t yet decided whether to seek another lawyer.
She said: “The main reason I’m speaking out is not so I can gain from it but so others can be aware mistakes do happen and sometimes they are catastrophic.
“I just want women to know that this can happen to you when you’re young, so go and get the smears when they’re offered, and do what you can, maybe through your own GP, to make sure the results are correct. I can hardly put into words how let down I feel by the NHS.”
NHS Forth Valley said: “We follow the national cervical screening programme. This includes systems for checking, reviewing and monitoring results. The programme does not diagnose cancer but it’s extremely important that when invited you attend your screening.”
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