A MOTHER is taking legal action against Barnsley Hospital after being told by a consultant she did not have cancer only to find out five months later that she did.

Amphorn Norton - known as Oh - was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and received treatment, but in June 2015 she was referred to the cancer team at Barnsley Hospital with pain in her breast, shoulder and chest.

An ultrasound was carried out but a consultant told her everything was OK.

But just months later, in November that same year, she had an MRI scan as part of the routine check up after her original breast cancer diagnosis and was told the cancer had returned - and had spread to her lungs, liver and bones.

Amphorn, 36, is originally from Thailand and has lived at Glenmore Rise, Wombwell, for the last 15 years. She is married to Dean and has a daughter Kelly, 13.

She said: “I had been feeling pain for a couple of months and I knew it wasn’t right. I’d had cancer before and told my GP that I thought it was coming back.

“My GP transferred me to Barnsley to the cancer team. I told them it was cancer coming back. When people have cancer, they know the signs deep down.

“I had an ultrasound and the consultant said it was ok. It was a massive relief when she told me that.”

Amphorn’s pain continued, and it was only when she went for her yearly MRI scan that she was told the cancer had returned.

She said: “Everything just came crashing down. I was crying and I was so angry. Why did they say it was OK? I knew it was there, I could feel it.”

After the shock news, Amphorn was given two injections - one for her bones and one to slow the production of oestrogen.

She submitted a complaint to Barnsley Hospital in January 2016 but claims she was ‘going around in circles’ and not getting answers to her questions, which included why there was no further investigation after the ultrasound and if her prognosis would have been any different if the cancer had been diagnosed sooner.

Having appointed medical negligence solicitor Andrew Harrison to act on her behalf, Amphorn asked hospital staff to look again at her MRI scans.

Mr Harrison said the hospital carried out a serious incident review and its report stated: “MRI scans dating back to November 2013 and May 2015 had indicated ‘clinical concerns’ which were not identified and reported.”

Amphorn now has a CT scan every three months and has to take hormone therapy and medication for secondary bone cancer indefinitely.

Through tears, she said: “I trusted them and they let me down and didn’t listen to me. People think when they see a specialist they will get sorted out. I didn’t get that. The standard is not good enough.

“I just want to tell people to trust their bodies. I wanted to share my story to help people.”

Barnsley Hospital medical director, Dr Simon Enright said: “We always aim to deliver the best diagnosis and care services for our patients. This was a serious incident and on this occasion our procedures failed our patient and we are sorry for that.”

He added: “There are clearly lessons to be learnt from this experience for our teams.

“By January 2018 the hospital changed its reporting procedures having reflected and learnt from this event. These procedures and are ongoing, regardless of our specialisms, so we can continually improve our diagnosis services.”