Dad dies days after getting delayed scan results

A Shropshire family has called for faster NHS test results, after a father waited three months for the outcome of a cancer scan which finally arrived five days before he died.

Pete Vagg was receiving chemotherapy at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, unaware his treatment wasn't working and that palliative care might have been an option.

His son Neil said his father "should have had a more dignified end of life, visiting his grandchildren abroad".

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) said: “Waiting times remain longer than we would want for our patients in some specialties".

Mr Vagg, 79, from Shrewsbury, had been living with cancer for a number of years, but it had spread to his bowel and liver.

He started chemotherapy and in July 2024 had a monitoring scan to check if the treatment was working.

His son, who works at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, said: "It was odd that every time his dad met the medical team there was still no scan result”.

This meant no decisions could be made about his father's care, because nobody knew what was going on inside him, he added.

Julian Povey, who chairs the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin GP Board, said it was a common situation with around a third of GP work now related to hospital outpatient appointments.

Dr Povey said people could wait eight weeks for an scan, and then another 12 weeks for the report.

Private companies are often tasked with interpreting scan results to take the pressure off hospitals, but Dr Povey said the trust "needs to look for alternatives to reduce waiting times".

Cancer diagnostics data from the NHS suggested that in September about two-thirds (68%) of SaTH patients received results within four weeks, but more than one in ten had to wait more than two months. Across England, three-quarters (75%) were within the target.

The Royal College of Radiologists said there was a shortage of staff in the field nationally.

The college said that in Shropshire the reporting times for more complex diagnostics, like CT and MRI scans, was of particular concern.

Between January and June 2024, 8.3% of CT and MRI scans (4269 scans) took longer than 28 days to be reported.

SaTH's chief operating officer Ned Hobbs said: “We are making progress in reducing waiting times for cancer treatment.

"We have invested in additional capacity and clinics, including at our Community Diagnostic Centre, and expect in the coming months to reduce the waiting times further."

He added the trust was working with neighbouring hospitals to offer faster access to scans, tests and treatment.

Neil Vagg said seeing his father suffer unnecessarily had prompted him to speak out: "We need to be asking questions about why it's been allowed to happen... because what's to say there isn't something more serious out there lurking that could be averted."