'Cover-Up' Hospital: Boy's Mum Wants Justice

A mother has demanded "justice" for her son who died at a hospital which could face a police investigation after allegedy falsifying data about cancer patients.

Danielle Uren believes four-year-old Mackenzie Cackett, who suffered a brain tumour, could have still been alive had it not been for mistakes in his diagnosis and treatment at Colchester General Hospital, Essex.

He allegedly endured a series of lengthy delays and blunders before dying in May last year.

Miss Uren, from Halstead in Essex, said: "It has been such a difficult time. We knew there was something wrong but we were ignored and that may have cost our son his life."

The hospital's trust has been reported to police after staff complained of a cover-up, alleging they were "pressured or bullied" into falsifying data relating to cancer patients.

The hospital has been put into special measures after inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found evidence that records may have been altered to meet targets on waiting times.

Staff told inspectors they were put under pressure to change data relating to patients and their treatment to make it seem like people were being treated in line with national guidelines, a CQC spokesman said.

As a result some patients may not have had the treatment they needed in time, he added.

The CQC, which contacted police, said of 61 care records examined, 22 showed that people had been "placed at risk of receiving care that was unsafe or not effective, due to delays in receiving appointments or treatment".

In some cases people did not get their treatment within the required 62 days, and in three cases delays exceeded 100 days.

Miss Uren said: "It didn't come as a big surprise to me that there could be a wider scandal. It's so shocking the amount of people that have been affected.

"But I'm not surprised as it couldn't just have been us who have had such appalling treatment and gone through such a terrible experience.

"I just feel like no one has been held accountable and all we have received are just feeble apologies. No-one has been put through disciplinary action, no-one has lost their job.

"We have lost our son but the people who are responsible are just able to carry on with their lives as normal and it doesn't seem fair. We just want justice."

Mackenzie attended the hospital four times in seven months before getting a diagnosis, she said.

He was taken to the A&E department in September 2010 because he was vomiting and was suffering from headaches. He had blood tests and an X-ray, but no further appointments were made.

A scan of his head and spine was delayed by four weeks and in February 2011 he was diagnosed with cancer, seven months after going to his family doctor.

In September that year doctors dismissed his symptoms after they returned, but in January 2012 he was diagnosed with a secondary tumour, and died four months later, shortly after being visited by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust has written to 30 patients, or their next of kin - where patients have died, offering to review their treatment.

A spokesman for the Trust said: "The trust's medical director Dr Sean MacDonnell is arranging an external review of the care and treatment we provided Mackenzie Cackett.

"Mackenzie's family are aware of this and we have asked them if there are any particular questions and issues they would like the review to cover. The trust, again, wishes to extend its condolences and sympathy to the family for their loss."