PANDEMIC DELAYS HAVE GIVEN MY HUSBAND A ‘DEATH SENTENCE’
A CANCER sufferer has been told he has 16 months to live after long hold-ups in diagnosis and treatment.
Clive Forder, 68, begged to be seen by medics before Christmas after complaining of a chest infection.
He could not get a face-toface appointment so was given antibiotics.The father of three was finally sent for an X-ray on January 18. It revealed a three-inch mass on his right lung, later diagnosed as non-small cell lung cancer.
Today – 83 days after the discovery – he is still waiting to start treatment.The tragedy highlights the crisis in cancer care that has affected at least 100,000 during the pandemic.
His wife and carer Tina, 60, said: “They have handed my husband a death sentence.
“He is now too ill to have his lung removed and too ill to have chemotherapy. They knew how serious this was back in January when he was well enough to have an operation.
“We still don’t know when Clive is going to start treatment. He can’t walk and is losing weight rapidly.
“They said his prognosis is between 16-18 months. If they had got their fingers out he could have started treatment in January. If he went to A&E he would have had a scan the same day. Being an outpatient meant we have had to wait. It’s made him worse.”
Lung cancer can be found as a mass on chest X-rays of patients with no symptoms, but most have telltale signs. They include a new cough, rib or shoulder pain and weight loss.
Speaking for her sick husband, Tina, of Spalding, Lincs, said he has only been able to see a GP twice in the last two years.
Before the pandemic Clive had a persistent cough and was incorrectly diagnosed in 2019 with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease.
In August 2020 he started to get problems with his balance and shoulder pain.
This was misdiagnosed as vertigo and old age. But a blood test last year revealed low red blood cells – a hallmark of lung cancer.The test was repeated with the same result but he was prescribed iron tablets.
The NHS says at least 85 per cent of cancer patients should wait no more than 62 days to start treatment following an urgent referral from a GP.
This target has not been met for six years. Clive was told surgeons might have been able to remove part of his lung. Now radiotherapy is his only option.
Tina said: “We have been treated like a number – personalised care has gone and people like my Clive are suffering because of it.”
Express columnist Professor Karol Sikora, 73, founder of Rutherford Health, offered to open his cancer centres to slash waiting lists in a not-forprofit deal submitted to health chiefs in December.
It would mean 30,000 of the most seriously sick NHS patients, like Clive, being fasttracked. But it has not been taken up.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are investing record amounts in the NHS to tackle the Covid backlog.”