A 43-year-old woman has died from breast cancer, after a screening machine at a hospital in Hertfordshire was allegedly left needing repairs for at least a month.

The Daily Mail reports that Tracey Kindley discovered a lump in her breast in March 2005 and was being treated for breast cancer at a private hospital in north London. Doctors there sent a biopsy to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II in Welwyn Garden City, the results of which would have provided them with crucial information regarding the best treatment for her.

However, the hospital failed to advise patients that the results of their screenings might have been inaccurate because their equipment was not working properly. The hospital also failed to report the situation to the relevant health authority, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in an apparent breach of Department of Health rules designed to protect patients and flag up any problems to doctors.

In October this year, Mrs Kindley died from breast cancer after doctors told her that her treatment had been based on ‘inaccurate test results’. Thousands more cancer patients might also be at risk from having been screened by the faulty equipment, which was used to test hormone levels and had been giving false negative readings. The trust says the machine was repaired ‘within days’ of the error having been detected, although Mrs Kindley’s biopsy had taken place one month before the repair was carried out in May 2005.

The problem was only detected in Mrs Kindley’s case when doctors discovered that she was not responding to treatment and the cancer had spread. Fresh laboratory tests were ordered on the original biopsy and the results showed a very high level of oestrogen, alerting clinicians to the original screening error.

The East and North Herts NHS Trust launched an internal investigation but concluded that Mrs Kindley’s case was a ‘one-off’ and no other patients could have been affected during the period the machine was malfunctioning.

In the weeks leading up to her death, Mrs Kindley launched a legal action against the trust. Her legal representative said that had she received the right treatment, she would have had a 70 per cent chance of survival.

Mrs Kindley’s husband said he blamed the trust for her death:

‘I believe they robbed me of my wife. The right results would have opened up other forms of treatment and I believe she would be with me and her son Max now.’

The East and North Herts NHS Trust has acknowledged that the results of Mrs Kindley’s biopsy has returned a ‘partial false negative result’ and has apologised. It said that the failure to inform the MRHA of the matter was being ‘reviewed’ by the trust.

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