Hospital’s Email Blunder Causes 10-Month Delay in Cancer Detection

A mother in the UK was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 months later than expected because a hospital email was missed. Kingston Hospital Foundation Trust has apologized to 41-year-old Wioletta Smith, who was devastated by the mistake.

Smith had a routine mammogram at Kingston Hospital in December 2022 after noticing changes in her right breast. The results were marked as needing further action, but the email with the recommendations was never received by the breast clinic. Smith didn’t hear back and assumed everything was fine.

In October 2023, she visited her doctor after finding a lump in her breast. After a biopsy, she was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer.

Smith was shocked by the diagnosis, saying, “I thought everything was fine since I hadn’t heard back from the hospital.” She has since had surgery to remove the lump and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The hospital has apologized for the mistake and the distress it caused.