A Braintree woman has told how she was left in severe pain for weeks after a hospital bungle delayed the diagnosis of a rare skin condition.

Mrs Liz Smith, 48, was stunned when she was told at Broomfield Hospital that a biopsy tissue sample taken nine weeks before had been lost.

Mrs Smith of Hawkins Way, Braintree, who first developed the problem with her leg three years ago, said: "It meant they did not know what I had."

In a letter to the hospital she said she was utterly horrified to be informed that the tissue had been lost on the day it was taken from her leg and that a new treatment was to start.

She was referred to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London, but was told she would have to wait to see a doctor.

When she finally got an appointment five weeks later, the consultant said that there was no need for delay as it was a walk-in clinic.

He told her the condition was not a tropical disease. It had been identified as flesh-eating pyoderma gangrenosum and she had been referred for confirmation of the diagnosis.

Mrs Smith, a development manager for a finance company, then returned to Broomfield Hospital again, where she was given pain killers and strong steroids as a new treatment started. She may now have to undergo a further biopsy under a general anaesthetic.

But she still has eight ulcers and a wound eight by four centimetres on her leg. She is in considerable pain and has been unable to work since January 28.

She said: "I have been pushed from pillar to post. My life has come to a full stop. I may lose my job because of this. I just want my life back and to be able to get back to work."

A spokeswoman for the Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust said: "The Trust would like to apologise to Mrs Smith that her biopsy was lost en route to the laboratory."

"There are plans to move the laboratories onto the Broomfield site which should prevent this happening again."

Published Monday, June 9, 2003

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