Woman sent home with sprained ankle had cancer of brain

A woman was sent home from a London hospital only to be told the next day that she had life-threatening cancer when she visited another hospital.

Carol Anne Johnson, 62, went to the A&E department at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington complaining of pains in her side after falling out of bed.

After a three-hour wait she said she was diagnosed with a sprained ankle in just 20 minutes — despite having told the doctor that she had undergone treatment for cancer of the womb a month before.

The next day, doctors at Charing Cross Hospital found cancer spots on her brain less than an hour after she was taken there after feeling unwell at her Ladbroke Grove home.

Ms Johnson, now undergoing radiotherapy at Hammersmith Hospital, said she felt "let down" by St Mary's. She said: "I told the doctor I'd had a hysterectomy in March but she kept checking my face because she thought I'd had a stroke. I feel gutted that I didn't get the treatment I should have. The doctor had no compassion."

Ms Johnson also said bins in the lavatory were overflowing, there were bloodstains on the floor and dirty laundry in the corridors.

A St Mary's spokeswoman said: "We take these concerns very seriously and will look into every aspect of this patient's care."