healthmedicinet

By the time medics realised the accountancy student – whose youngest child was
only two when she died – was suffering from advanced uterine cancer of the
cervix, it was too late.

She died at a hospice in July 2012 – eight months after a blood test first
raised concerns.

On Thursday the Birmingham and Solihull coroner recorded a narrative verdict,
concluding Miss Harvey died of uterine cancer of the cervix, which was
misdiagnosed on more than 30 occasions.

Repeated failures were made by medical staff to recognise, diagnose and treat
her, the inquest heard.

Miss Harvey’s sister, Marie Donovan, said ahead of the inquest: “All we’ve
ever wanted is for someone to tell us how it was possible for medical
professionals to miss so many opportunities to correctly diagnose and treat
our sister, whose suffering and death were entirely preventable.

“Throughout Jeannine’s illness, we got the impression that no one was
listening to us, and felt doctors were constantly patronising us by saying
it was Jeannine’s anxiety that was making her pain worse.”

Speaking three months after her death, Ms Donovan, from West Heath,
Birmingham, said her sister’s treatment was “like something out of the Dark
Ages”.

She added: “My beautiful sister was in agony, she was crippled with pain, but
no one listened to her.”

Miss Harvey left behind four children who, at the time of her death, were
Paul, 16, Jack, 12, Frankie, five, and Ella, two.

Miss Harvey, from Rowley Regis, West Midlands, first complained of pain in her
left leg and abdomen in December 2011.

An ultrasound scan – conducted after the blood test for ovarian cancer came
back “elevated” – revealed a mass 4cm wide in her pelvic area.

But a laparoscopy six weeks later at City Hospital, Birmingham, appeared to
show the mass had vanished, and she was sent back to her GP for
physiotherapy.

Days later and still in pain, she was taken to accident and emergency at
Sandwell Hospital where doctors diagnosed a possible torn ligament.

An MRI scan in March 2012 led to a new diagnosis of protruding discs, with
doctors claiming anxiety was the main source of her pain.

Ms Donovan claims that, when her sister was finally admitted to the Medical
Assessment Unit at City Hospital on April 18 2012, she was in such a poor
state a nurse assumed she was a cancer patient.

Days later, Miss Harvey was misdiagnosed again, this time with sarcoma – a
type of cancer that develops in connective tissues.

A routine biopsy at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital prior to starting
chemotherapy found squamous cell tissue, which could only have originated in
the cervix.

By the time her treatment began, the tumour – now 8cm – had become infected
and shattered her pelvic bone. She was admitted to a hospice on July 13 2012
and died ten days later.

Jill Davies, the family’s lawyer at national law firm Access Legal, said:
“This is one of the most tragic and distressing cases I have seen and it has
implications for the diagnosis and timely treatment of cancer on a national
basis.

“Even if Jeannine could not have been cured, it is possible that with an
earlier correct diagnosis she may have avoided months of pain at the end of
her life.”

Cervical cancer is a rare type of cancer that develops in a woman’s cervix.

It often has no symptoms in the early stages meaning it is often not diagnosed
until it is more advanced.

A Facebook page called Justice4Jeannine was set up by Miss Harvey’s family
shortly after her death to share her story with the wider world.

Ms Donovan said: “Nothing can ever bring our sister back, but we know her
story has made a difference.

“We’ve had messages from people who say Jeannine’s case has pushed them not to
accept an initial diagnosis, good or bad, and go for further tests.

“Because of Jeannine, many people are alive and receiving treatment today who
otherwise might have died in similar circumstances.”

Roger Stedman, medical director at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS
Trust, said: “Our sincere condolences are passed on to Jeannine’s family at
this very difficult time and we are sorry for the distress suffered.

“Following Jeannine’s death we carried out a detailed internal investigation
where we identified several areas where we fell short in our expected high
standard of care.

“This included a failure to make an adequate and timely diagnosis and our
failure to adequately treat Jeannine’s pain as a result, in the last days of
her life.

“We have met with Jeannine’s family and expressed our sincere apologies for
these failings and would wish to extend that apology again.

“Our investigations indicate that an MRI of Jeannine’s pelvis should have been
carried out following a laparoscopy performed in February 2012, and for this
we are truly sorry.

“It is clear that appropriate treatment would have brought forward the date of
diagnosis and would have prevented pain and suffering.

“Sadly, it would appear that Jeannine’s cancer was already at a stage that it
would not have been curable.”