War hero dies after delays (From Witney Gazette)

War hero dies after delays

9:00am Friday 9th February 2007 in Witney By Victoria Owen

THE widow of a war veteran claims her husband fell victim to NHS ageism after doctors failed to treat him for a rugby ball-sized cyst.

Jim Hardiman was told he would have to wait more than seven weeks for an operation which had been booked for the same day he and his wife Margaret were due to fly to Australia to see his daughter for the first time in four years.

Despite getting worse, the 82-year-old was sent home from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, and the cyst burst. Although he was readmitted, Mr Hardiman died a month later.

The hospital has apologised for the delay and said in some cases operations were delayed because the pensioner was not fit enough. But former nursery nurse Mrs Hardiman, of The Green, Stanton Harcourt, has written to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals (ORH) NHS Trust, complaining her husband's treatment was 'inadequate'.

She said: "In my opinion, there was ageism from the start. My husband was over 80, and they thought they could leave him. I think if he was 50, they would've treated him immediately.

"I don't say they could've saved him, but we had no help or answers from them."

Mr Hardiman, who fought in the Mallacca Straights against the Japanese during Second World War, suffered a catalogue of errors, after his GP discovered a 'large mass' on June 30 last year. Although he was referred to an outpatient clinic, and should have been seen within two weeks, a letter notifying him about his first appointment arrived a day after the consultation, so he waited 21 days to see a specialist.

He then waited another 17 days for an 'urgent scan', which pinpointed a cyst, measuring 26x22x15cm, near his pancreas. Despite this, former tanker driver Mr Hardiman was only admitted to the hospital after his GP sent him as an emergency patient a week later. It was a further four days before a consultant examined him and diagnosed the cyst as a pseudocyst, made up of water, which needed to be drained during an operation.

Mrs Hardiman explained that although her husband was 'fading fast', the surgery was booked 'a ridiculous seven weeks' away, on September 19, and he was sent home.

Two week's later, Dr Ian Binnian, from Eynsham Medical Centre, readmitted Mr Hardiman. His referral note said: "He cannot tolerate this any longer, and something needs to be done acutely, because he will not survive until September 19."

Although the great-grandfather-of-three received emergency surgery on August 18, surgeons discovered the cyst had already burst.

The situation got worse when Mr Hardiman's arm became swollen and infected, after he was accidentally cut by a nurse's belt buckle.

His wife said: "It was appalling. Even though he was really ill, they tried to send him to Witney Hospital for rehabilitation. He wasn't in a fit state to go anywhere."

ORH said the trust had responded to some issues raised by Mr Hardiman's family, and were investigating subsequent concerns.

A spokesman said: "We have no reason to believe any delays in Mr Hardiman's treatment after diagnosis had an effect on the ultimate outcome of his illness, which was sadly terminal.

"Delays in Mr Hardiman's operation occurred due to a combination of the fact that he was not always fit for surgery, and that more urgent therapeutic cases took priority."