A grieving widow has spoken of his heartbreak after his husband died just over a month after visiting his doctor with stomach pain.
Ian Roser, 59, passed away at Salford Royal Hospital on May 27 after being admitted with sepsis. He'd been awaiting tests to confirm a possible cancer diagnosis at the time.
His devastated husband, Francis Dunn, claims Ian wasn't booked in for a biopsy for two months after doctors at North Manchester General Hospital discovered a blockage in his kidney, and possible stomach tumours.
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He claims he was forced to spend the last few weeks of his husband's life chasing the hospital for an appointment, and believes Ian fell into a waiting list 'abyss.'
A spokesperson for North Manchester General Hospital said they are 'saddened' by Ian's death, and are currently working to respond to Mr Dunn's concerns.
Mr Dunn, who is originally from the US but had lived in Bury for nine years with Ian, said he had been left completely lost without his husband, who had been 'healthy' up until April this year.
"In April he started getting stomach pain and was sent to North Manchester General Hospital by the doctor," Mr Dunn said, speaking to the Manchester Evening News.
"Ian was discharged with scans showing a kidney tube blockage and suspected stomach tumours and many other suspicious findings requiring treatment and biopsies.
"He then just fell into this abyss of trying to get an appointment. All the time he was getting sicker. I felt he needed some proper medical attention pretty urgently.
"I was frantically calling, emailing and even tweeting in the hope that someone would help but it just felt like everyone I spoke to was continuously passing the buck."
Mr Dunn claims that eventually, Ian was booked in for an appointment with a Urologist at Fairfield Hospital, which is ran by the Northern Care Alliance - a different NHS trust.
"We saw a urologist at Fairfield Hospital and they said he needed to have a biopsy which we already knew," he said. "We were getting really worried at this point.
"We didn't hear anything back despite me calling them every day. They called back with some dates to do the tests but the first biopsy date wasn't until June 9 - which he didn't even make.
"I kept pushing that he needed to be seen sooner. In the interim North Manchester also booked an ultrasound for May 30 but we both knew this was too long."
The Northern Care Alliance, who run Fairfield Hospital, said they are working with Manchester University Foundation Trust, who run North Manchester General Hospital, to 'establish the facts.'
According to cancer research, in England, if an urgent referral is made, it should mean a patient sees a specialist within two weeks. Mr Dunn claims doesn't know if this was done by North Manchester General Hospital.
He claims that during the time inbetween appointments, Ian lost around three stone and was becoming more unwell. Eventually, they felt they had no choice but to attend A&E.
"They referred him to critical care at Salford Royal Hospital where they said he had a kidney blockage - which we already knew," he said.
"Doctors said he had also developed sepsis. He was really frightened. They tried lots of different things but nothing was working. They were pretty grave with me and said they were going to have to put him on dialysis and see if he responded.
"They told me to go home and rest but in the middle of the night I got a call saying I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. By the time I arrived he had already passed away."
Ian, who is originally from Scotland, died on the couple's ninth wedding anniversary. They had lived together in Bury for nine years, with Ian working for Deloitte in Manchester.
"We were very close," Mr Dunn said. "I don't have much of a support network here so it's been very tough without him. He was only 59 and such a healthy and robust man."
Mr Dunn claims he has lodged a formal complaint with North Manchester General Hospital regarding the alleged delays for Ian to be booked in for further tests.
A spokesperson for North Manchester General Hospital said: "We are saddened by the death of Mr Roser and offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
"We strive to provide the best care possible for our patients and will be working with clinicians and colleagues from the Northern Care Alliance to respond to Mr Dunn’s concerns."
Rafik Bedair, Chief Medical Officer, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are sorry for the family’s loss and would like to offer our sincere condolences.
"We are working with our colleagues at Manchester Foundation Trust to establish the facts and we will share our findings with his family in due course."
In a response to Mr Dunn on Twitter, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said they had 'updated the inspector' of Mr Roser's death. The CQC have been approached for further comment.
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