Woman, 45, had to have emergency surgery after doctors failed to spot 'red ... trends now
A woman was forced to undergo emergency surgery after GPs failed to spot 'red flag' colon cancer symptoms for a year - with one suggesting she had anorexia instead.
Charlie Puplett, 45, a risk management controller from Yeovil, Somerset, raised concerns with her GP surgery about unexplained weight loss, a lack of appetite, change in bowel habits, a tender abdomen, stomach pain and bloating in May 2019.
An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found these symptoms should have been red flags leading to urgent attention.
While the GP practice in Yeovil, Somerset, did carry out several tests, none of them were for colon cancer.
Ms Puplett said they 'just fobbed me off' and 'one suggested I had anorexia and was in denial'.
Charlie Puplett, 45, was forced to undergo emergency surgery after GPs failed to spot 'red flag' colon cancer symptoms for a year
The risk management controller from Yeovil, Somerset, said one doctor 'suggested I had anorexia and was in denial'
In April 2020, after vomiting blood and faeces while clapping for the NHS workers outside her home, she called an ambulance and was taken to Yeovil Hospital where she was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Ms Puplett underwent an emergency operation to remove two-thirds of her colon and a tumour.
She also needed a stoma - an opening on the abdomen that allows waste to be diverted out of the body into a bag.
Ms Puplett now says she feels unable to trust anyone and needed therapy for PTSD following her experience.
She added: 'I kept going back to the practice and they just fobbed me off.
'They didn't listen to me at all. I saw a different
