An outraged daughter has spoken out after her terminally-ill mom was repeatedly refused an appointment for her cough.
As 33-year-old Marina Sendall from Gloucester, England, claimed, Gloucester Health Centre refused to see her 62-year-old mother Ellie Krzywy for her cough because they allegedly “didn’t want to see” patients over coronavirus fears. Instead, she was prescribed antibiotics during a consultation via telephone back in June.
After her condition had worsened and the grandmother started suffering from breathlessness and blue lips, the 62-year-old was told she had to undergo coronavirus testing before she would be seen.
In August, after testing negative for the virus, the 62-year-old was finally seen in person only to be diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given just months to live.
After the dreadful diagnosis, Marina lashed out at the doctors who refused to see her mother saying that “Covid was used as an excuse not to see her” despite her pleas.
“Appointments were extremely difficult to get even before lockdown, you were often being dismissed as it is,” the upset daughter said.
“I don’t know if this [pandemic] has had a huge impact or whether it’s a ‘get out of jail free’ card [for doctors] thinking ‘now we can blame it on covid.’”
As Marina insisted, her mother would probably be in a better situation with more time left to live if she was seen when she first requested an appointment.
“Maybe she wouldn’t have had a brilliant prognosis but we definitely would have had a lot more time with her,” she said. “My mum was completely dismissed when she finally got a face-to-face appointment.”
Meanwhile, the grandmother admitted she was left in shock after learning she had so little time left to spend with her family. She also revealed she feels “very disappointed” about the way she was treated while suffering from terminal cancer.
Following the family’s complaints, the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group spokesperson said:
“We are very sorry to hear about this patient’s experiences and that the lady concerned and her daughter are unhappy with the service provided.
“We have been working very closely with our GP surgeries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that appropriate arrangements and safeguards are in place to see patients face to face if their medical need requires it.”
Replaced!