Dad of 7 Wasn’t Told of Terminal Diagnosis by Hospital, So He Kept Working Until ‘Practically Bed-Bound,’ Daughter Recalls

A U.K. man continued pushing himself through work while seriously unwell after hospital staff failed to tell him he had a terminal condition, according to a new report.

William “Syd” Chapman made several trips to The Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire between July and November 2021, reporting shortness of breath, according to a release from England’s Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), an independent body that investigates complaints about the National Health Service (NHS).

During those visits, the 58-year-old father of seven was reportedly told he had COVID-19 and was expected to fully recover. Believing he would get better, Syd kept working and trying to live life as normal, despite continuing to feel unwell.

Everything changed in December, when his GP informed him that he actually had pulmonary fibrosis — a progressive, terminal lung disease that makes it increasingly difficult to breathe. The GP assumed Syd had already been told, because paperwork from his November hospital visit listed the diagnosis. In reality, Syd had never been informed.

Syd’s daughter, Chantelle, 32, said the family feels “completely let down” by the hospital and believes her father would have made very different choices if he had known the truth earlier.

“My dad thought he was going to get better, because that’s what they led him to believe,” she said in a statement to PHSO. “Because of that he carried on working even though it was a struggle for him.”

She added that by the time her father finally learned he was terminally ill, he was already too sick to do anything with that information.

“If he had known the truth, he would have given up work and made the most of the time he had left with his family. By the time he was given the information to make that decision he was too poorly to work anyway, he was practically bed-bound. We all lost that time to spend together.”

“Medical staff have a duty of care to tell patients what is really happening. It was very traumatic for us all to lose him after being told that he would be fine,” she said.

Syd died in August 2022.

The PHSO said it did not find failings in the clinical treatment Syd received at the hospital, but CEO Rebecca Hilsenrath described the communication failures in his case as deeply troubling.

“This disturbing case highlights the importance of effective communication and the consequences of getting it wrong,” she said in the PHSO release. “When you hear this kind of diagnosis in this way, you lose a sense of dignity and the opportunity to make your own decisions about how to live your life.”

Hilsenrath also noted that the family’s distress “was compounded” by the way the hospital handled matters after they filed an internal complaint, citing a lack of sufficient care and attention.

The Ombudsman ultimately recommended that the hospital acknowledge its failings and apologize to Syd’s family, make service improvements, improve its record keeping, and pay Syd’s wife $1,600. According to the release, the hospital has complied.

A Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said in a statement: “We apologize unreservedly for the experiences of Mr. Chapman and his family. We fully accept the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman and will continue to embed the improvements.”