Surgical Clinic Accidentally Texts Lung Cancer Diagnoses To Patients

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        Medical Clinic Apologizes After Accidentally Sending 'Lung Cancer Diagnosis' Texts To Thousands Of Patients
    

        Askern Medical Clinic/Google Maps; @KristelCollison/Twitter
    
Askern Medical Practice GP Surgery in Doncaster, England accidentally told patients they had aggressive lung cancer rather than wishing them a Merry Christmas.
By Joanna EdwardsDec 30, 2022
Joanna Edwards
Joanna Edwards wears many hats: student, data-wrangler and LGBTQ+ activist. Her main passion is writing, followed shortly by percussion, mediocre watercolor painting and scuba diving. A New Englander currently displaced to the South, she waits patiently for winter and its more reasonable weather.
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Text message alerts come in all forms these days: reminders for haircuts, reminders from your bank that your balance is getting low,  updates from your doctor's office about your non-existent, horrible cancer diagnosis....
The last one is what happened to many patients at the Askern Medical Practice GP Surgery in Doncaster, England.
The practice was supposed to have sent out an automated text to all the patients wishing them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
But instead some wires got crossed and they received the message below.
BBCNews
While many patients could infer the first text was a mistake, some were genuinely awaiting results of biopsies and therefore left upset and confused.
As one patient told the BBC, the text was quite upsetting due to this coincedence of timing.
"I had just had a mole removed and was awaiting a result from a biopsy and I had been to hospital as my smear test came back abnormal, so yes, I was very worried."The center sent out an apology text, but what a mistake to make during the holidays.
\u201c@BBCNews A nice festive surprise \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffc\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews This was my doctors. Luckily for me I got the merry Christmas one. Many people I know didn\u2019t and was extremely upsetting for them. That doctors is an absolute joke. The system is on its arse! Sure most are the same. This year we had to pay private for our girl best thing we did!\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252
Some folks wanted to know why a cancer diagnosis message was being sent via text in the first place.
\u201c@BBCNews Why is nobody questioning that a cancer diagnosis is potentially being made by text message in the first place?? Are genuine people with cancer finding out by text??\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252
\u201cThis is so bad \ud83d\udc80 I\u2019ve had diagnosis\u2019 sent by text I\u2019d hope they wouldn\u2019t send some one a text telling them they have cancer. Though with the state of the NHS & GP surgery\u2019s nothing surprises me with them nowadays.\u201d
 — Sarah \u30c4 (@Sarah \u30c4)
        1672394729

\u201cNo one should be ever be told they have \u201caggressive cancer\u201d over a text message. Why was this message even drafted??\u201d
 — Ben Hansen (@Ben Hansen)
        1672337555
Others pointed out it's clearly not even how a patient would receive a diagnosis, but rather communication between providers that accidentally got leaked.
\u201c@BBCNews It's clearly a mistake, addressed to a Dr rather than being intended for the patient themselves. A very unfortunate mistake. Lots of stress and pressure in the NHS so it's easy to understand how this might have happened.\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews Looks like one member of staff texting another to fill in some paperwork. Still not the appropriate method of communication. I suspect there will be some serious training sessions in the new year.\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252
This sensible take on the situation didn't stop people from a common activity in the UK.
Griping about the National Health Service (NHS).
\u201c@BBCNews I guess it makes a change from taking out the wrong kidney which is their normal standard\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews My GP left me a VM saying that my husband had died. Glad to say he is alive and kicking \ud83d\ude48\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252
But one person asked an interesting side question.
How long did they take to fix their mistake?
\u201c@BBCNews While not detracting from the thrust of the article I\u2019d like to know the time interval between both texts.\u201d
 — BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK))
        1672316252
Obviously this was a huge mistake on the part of this one practice in the NHS, but hopefully all those alarmed by the initial text had their fears relieved.
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Text message alerts come in all forms these days: reminders for haircuts, reminders from your bank that your balance is getting low, updates from your doctor's office about your non-existent, horrible cancer diagnosis....

The last one is what happened to many patients at the Askern Medical Practice GP Surgery in Doncaster, England.

The practice was supposed to have sent out an automated text to all the patients wishing them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

But instead some wires got crossed and they received the message below.

BBCNews

While many patients could infer the first text was a mistake, some were genuinely awaiting results of biopsies and therefore left upset and confused.

As one patient told the BBC, the text was quite upsetting due to this coincedence of timing.

"I had just had a mole removed and was awaiting a result from a biopsy and I had been to hospital as my smear test came back abnormal, so yes, I was very worried."

The center sent out an apology text, but what a mistake to make during the holidays.

\u201c@BBCNews A nice festive surprise \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffc\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews This was my doctors. Luckily for me I got the merry Christmas one. Many people I know didn\u2019t and was extremely upsetting for them. That doctors is an absolute joke. The system is on its arse! Sure most are the same. This year we had to pay private for our girl best thing we did!\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

Some folks wanted to know why a cancer diagnosis message was being sent via text in the first place.

\u201c@BBCNews Why is nobody questioning that a cancer diagnosis is potentially being made by text message in the first place?? Are genuine people with cancer finding out by text??\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

\u201cThis is so bad \ud83d\udc80 I\u2019ve had diagnosis\u2019 sent by text I\u2019d hope they wouldn\u2019t send some one a text telling them they have cancer. Though with the state of the NHS & GP surgery\u2019s nothing surprises me with them nowadays.\u201d
— Sarah \u30c4 (@Sarah \u30c4) 1672394729

\u201cNo one should be ever be told they have \u201caggressive cancer\u201d over a text message. Why was this message even drafted??\u201d
— Ben Hansen (@Ben Hansen) 1672337555

Others pointed out it's clearly not even how a patient would receive a diagnosis, but rather communication between providers that accidentally got leaked.

\u201c@BBCNews It's clearly a mistake, addressed to a Dr rather than being intended for the patient themselves. A very unfortunate mistake. Lots of stress and pressure in the NHS so it's easy to understand how this might have happened.\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews Looks like one member of staff texting another to fill in some paperwork. Still not the appropriate method of communication. I suspect there will be some serious training sessions in the new year.\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

This sensible take on the situation didn't stop people from a common activity in the UK.

Griping about the National Health Service (NHS).

\u201c@BBCNews I guess it makes a change from taking out the wrong kidney which is their normal standard\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

\u201c@BBCNews My GP left me a VM saying that my husband had died. Glad to say he is alive and kicking \ud83d\ude48\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

But one person asked an interesting side question.

How long did they take to fix their mistake?

\u201c@BBCNews While not detracting from the thrust of the article I\u2019d like to know the time interval between both texts.\u201d
— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1672316252

Obviously this was a huge mistake on the part of this one practice in the NHS, but hopefully all those alarmed by the initial text had their fears relieved.

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Medical Clinic Apologizes After Accidentally Sending 'Lung Cancer Diagnosis' Texts To Thousands Of Patients

Askern Medical Practice GP Surgery in Doncaster, England accidentally told patients they had aggressive lung cancer rather than wishing them a Merry Christmas.

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