Patients Get Lung Cancer Scare in Place of Xmas Greetings From UK Doctor’s Practice
A junior doctor holds his stethoscope
James TweedieThe medical centre in Yorkshire had meant to wish its patients a merry Christmas, but instead prompted a social media storm after an internal memo about a patient’s lung cancer diagnosis was texted out by mistake.A family medicine practice in northern England was left looking foolish this festive season after staff accidentally told patients they had cancer instead of a merry Christmas.Hundreds of patients at the Askern Medical Centre in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, received the terrifying text mentioning “aggressive lung cancer with metastases” — medical jargon for the disease spreading to other organs — on December 23.One man, 57-year-old property developer Chris Reed, said he had only recently been tested for lung cancer and that the message made his partner burst into tears.Less than half an hour later, the general practice (GP) surgery sent a correction with their “sincere apologies” for the mix-up, which appeared to be an internal message sent out by mistake.”Our message to you should have read: We wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” the second text said.
Viral’What Happened to Merry Christmas?’ NASCAR’s ‘Happy Holidays’ Tweet Outrages Racing Fans20 December, 12:06 GMTAngry patients vented their rage at the practice on social media.”Something clearly not right at Askern Medical Practice. Fuming,” wrote one who rushed to the practice after getting the message. “I received this message and I’m not the only one. I was shaking and close to tears.””Quite a few in the surgery now with the same text. I was near the surgery and walked in to say what the hell?” they added. “I’m not the only one but people will now be worried if they’ve received this text.”
