Former NHS worker seeking treatment abroad after being ‘let down’ by UK doctors

A former NHS worker battling ovarian cancer is now seeking treatment in Germany after being misdiagnosed multiple times and left feeling let down by doctors.

Alice Jackson, from Denmark Hill, repeatedly contacted her doctor over concerns for her health, only to be told to “stop worrying about nothing” – before being diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer.

Ms Jackson, who previously worked for the NHS as Head of Arts Therapies, approached a doctor in April 2017 after suffering from pain in her right ovary.

Around Christmas that same year she found a lump and started to develop severe bloating, but after receiving 3 ultrasound test results, was told by her doctor that it was nothing to worry about.

In April 2018, Ms Jackson approached her doctor again to get a referral for a private MRI scan after finding out, through an article on Facebook, that swollen legs were also symptom of ovarian cancer.

She said: “I braced myself for conflict in my aim to get a referral for a private MRI scan.

“’Alice, why don’t you go and live your life and stop worrying about nothing’ were the condescending words I was met with by my doctor.

“It was only after I explained that my legs were swollen that she finally took my fears seriously.

“After examination and upon realising how swollen my legs were, she snapped, “why didn’t you tell me about the swollen legs before?” when I’d actually contacted her soon after the swelling began.

“It also should have been her who asked me this question in the first instance, as part of a routine examination”

“After the emergency MRI two weeks later, it was revealed that the “normal 2cm cyst”, detected on the three ultrasound appointments, was in fact double the size and cancerous, and I ended up having a radical hysterectomy in June 2018”.

Ms Jackson’s case was formally investigated by her GP surgery and it was concluded that her doctor had acted appropriately.

Upon discovering the cancer had spread further than initially thought, Ms Jackson underwent six rounds of chemotherapy.

She remained cancer-free for nine months, until noticing a swollen groin lymph node, but was told this was, “fine” by a different doctor.

It was only when having an ultrasound weeks later for colitis, that she discovered her cancer had returned – the groin lymph node was cancerous – and she felt she was again let down by the medical teams in charge.

“No one bothered contacting me with the results of my emergency scan” she said.

“After well over a week of waiting, it was me who had to chase the results, and it was confirmed that my cancer had returned.

“I was going to have an operation to remove the node in December 2019, until further scans revealed the existence of cancer on my liver and along my pelvic wall.

“It was at this point my oncologist persuaded me, against my better judgment, to endure more crippling chemo because it had ‘worked before’ – even though it hadn’t.

“Three cycles of chemotherapy, plus two allergic reactions to the treatment, which nearly killed me, left me even thinner and weaker, with no impact whatsoever on the cancer.”

After enduring two further unsuccessful cycles of different chemotherapy, Ms Jackson was told she could continue with chemo but that was all the NHS could do to help her.

Ms Jackson has begun a highly expensive and unaffordable pioneering treatment in Germany in a bid to save her life .

She spent Christmas and New Year in a Motorhome after the UK lockdown made travelling home difficult.

Friends of Ms Jackson have rallied around her to help her raise the funds to cover the treatment that will cost around £60,000 – with an added cost of £6,000 every six weeks if the treatment is successful.

Krysia Rozanska, 61, who now lives in the US, set up a fundraising campaign – that has already raised £17,600 –  to help her friend who she met when they were both at university in Essex.

She said: “Alice was very reluctant at first and she didn’t want me to do the fundraiser because she’s always been so self-sufficient.

“She is used to being the person that everybody goes to if they have a problem, so it’s hard for her to accept help from other people, but this is the last chance for her.

“The way that the NHS has handled this whole situation is really disappointing, she has been completely let down.

“The fact that she could have to sell her house to pay for her treatment, especially when she will need that to look after herself in the future, really concerned me.

“Alice had so many plans. She has had to give up her job and her plans to travel. I would be complaining about living in a camper van for months in the cold, but Alice just gets on with it.”

“Last month a virtual live concert was held in Alice’s honour, and Alice looked the best out of the lot of us. She looked fabulous and it was such a beautiful night.

“Most people would have just given up, but Alice is so determined to live.”

You can donate to Alice’s fundraiser here: https://gofund.me/aa45969c