A PENSIONER referred for "urgent" cancer tests was removed from the waiting list by mistake and died months later.

Now NHS Lanarkshire has been rapped for an appointment blunder that led to the delay.

When the 71-year-old was finally seen by specialists, six months after the referral, he was suffering from advanced bowel cancer. He died six months later.

The health board has been forced to apologise to the patient's family following an investigation by Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Jim Martin.

The man, from East Kilbride, was referred to Hairmyres Hospital on March 3,1 2011, after his GP diagnosed "abnormal" bowel problems.

When he had not received an appointment four months later, his GP referred him again on August 2. It was a further seven weeks before he had tests that diagnosed advanced bowel cancer.

The health board said the patient was not seen sooner because he had phoned to cancel an earlier appointment.

They said he was removed from the waiting list because he had not requested another appointment.

However, the patient's wife said he could not have called as he had suffered a stroke and was unable to talk.

The board could provide no evidence that their version of events had happened and later aknowledged they had made a mistake.

Mr Martin said it was unlikely the delay would have affected the outcome for the patient but upheld the complaint about the delay in diagnosis.

A spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said: "We will be writing to the complainants with our sincere apologies.

"We will develop plans to address the areas highlighted and ensure that lessons learned are shared across NHS Lanarkshire".

caroline.wilson@ eveningtimes.co.uk