A cancer sufferer living in the Braintree district was wrongly told his disease was inoperable.

The man, named Mr R in a report by the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman into healthcare failings under the NHS, was diagnosed with terminal cancer by consultants at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

He was told it was inoperable and was offered palliative chemotherapy - a treatment offered to terminal patients in order to prolong survival and ease the symptoms but not to cure the disease.

The report stated that the man wanted a second opinion but the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, which runs Broomfield Hospital and Braintree Community Hospital, refused.

The man said he was told that it was “pointless”.

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.