A patient suffering a common throat infection was mistakenly told she had cancer after bungling hospital staff failed to spot an error in a letter.

Nicola Denyer, from Ramsgate, who had an uncomfortable feeling in her throat for six weeks, attended an appointment at the QEQM Hospital in Margate and was told there was nothing to worry about.

But just two days later, the 39-year-old received a letter from the department for ear, nose and throat telling her the devastating news she had cancer.

Unknown to her at the time, a new computer system had mistakenly changed the word candida - a common yeast infection easily treated with medication - to cancer.

The letter, which was also sent to her GP surgery East Cliff Medical Practice, read: "Flexible nasal endoscopy confirms presence of cancer at the base of the tongue, which can certainly account for this lady’s symptoms."

Mrs Denyer's partner Paul Valentine, who lost his wife to cancer eight years ago, says he suspected a mistake had been made as the rest of the letter suggested there were no serious issues.

But the 64-year-old struggled to get any response from the hospital despite leaving numerous messages.

'All letters are checked by a clinician before they are posted and unfortunately in this case the error was missed' - East Kent Hospitals

"In the end I finally made contact and was told this often happens," said Mr Valentine.

"To get a letter saying she had cancer, even though I thought it might be a mistake, was awful. I lost my wife to this dreadful illness.

"My partner read the letter and said 'oh my god' but I told her not to panic, that it looked like an error."

Mrs Denyer, of Pegwell Road, received another letter a week after the first, with the hospital apologising for the mistake and stressing that she does not have the disease.

It read: "We have newly installed a speech recognition software programme that has unfortunately mistaken the word candida for the word cancer.

"Please let me reassure you that I saw no evidence of any cancer at all on endoscopy and I can only apologise for the error in your letter."

Mr Valentine says while they were relieved at the confirmation, he admits it had been a worry.

"It's shockingly bad this was able to happen." he said.

"I was sure it was a mistake, but the word had been used so you can't help but worry.

"I told them this is a word not to be played around with.

"If this had happened to someone else who didn't realise it was a mistake, it could push them over the edge."

A spokesman for East Kent Hospitals said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Denyer for the distress and anxiety caused by this error.

"All letters are checked by a clinician before they are posted and unfortunately in this case the error was missed.

"We are reminding staff of the importance of thoroughly proof-reading all letters to prevent mistakes like this happening again."

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