Cancer-stricken Jean-Robert Chanas lay on his deathbed and whispered a last message to his wife: “Your country has killed me”.
The 67-year-old dad delivered the damning verdict to Irene, 65, before losing his fight for life on Christmas Eve.
Jean-Robert, who was born in France but had lived in Britain for more than 40 years, was diagnosed with liver cancer last November. His wife and their son, Laurent, claim doctors missed the disease on 32 separate occasions over a two-and-a-half year period. They also say Jean-Robert’s pleas to medics to send him for the scan that may have saved his life repeatedly fell on deaf ears.Join our campaignThe taxi driver’s plight was revealed by The Sunday Post as part of our Fighting Chance campaign. Irene, of Mount Vernon, Glasgow, said: “We are angry he wasn’t scanned early enough to save him.
“We pleaded several times with the hospital and his GP practice to carry out a proper scan. But they refused and insisted on prodding his stomach and carrying out scopes, X-rays and blood tests. When we asked if it was cancer they said, ‘No! Not that’.”
Jean-Robert began suffering serious abdominal pains two-and-a-half-years ago. Irene said: “By the time he was scanned in November last year after seeing a new GP, the cancer had spread to his liver and he was terminal.
“His oncologist said: ‘If only we had seen you earlier’. He had been told for two-and-a-half years he just had musculoskeletal pains.”
Following the diagnosis, Jean-Robert underwent chemotherapy in an attempt to buy him time. His family in France pleaded with him to return to the country for treatment but by that stage he was not well enough to travel. Irene has since asked the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to investigate the case.
She added: “Jean-Robert had always been a fan of the NHS but it has deteriorated in recent years. Before he died he said, ‘Your country has killed me.’ We feel badly let down. He deserved better than this.”
A post-mortem is to be carried out in an attempt to discover the primary cause of the cancer. Irene said: “Let’s hope we learn lessons so no other family has to go through this.”
It was Jean-Robert’s wish for his ashes to be scattered in France. Irene will travel there with Laurent to fulfil that request.
Dr Giles Maskell, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said there was a worrying lack of the experts to interpret vital scans.
“Scotland, together with the rest of the UK, has fewer CT and MRI scanners than all other Western European nations,” he said. “Interpretation of complex scans can only be done by a trained radiologist.”
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We carried out a full investigation and are satisfied Mr Chanas received the appropriate care from his first attendance at our emergency department in May 2013 until his diagnosis in November 2013.
“We understand this is a very difficult time for the Chanas family, however his diagnosis could not have been reached more quickly.”
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