A MUM-of-two recorded a scathing final video just hours before she died, slamming the NHS for failing to spot her cancer.

The heart-wrenching footage was released by mum Patricia Whitehouse’s family after she died in hospital aged just 62 on Tuesday.

Patricia said she visited her GP seven times in two months to raise concerns about persistent back pain.

The mum said she was sent away with just paracetamol to ease it.

She was eventually diagnosed with spinal cancer, and died at the Royal Stoke University Hospital six months later.

Her devastated family released the clip as part of Patricia’s dying wish to highlight her plight.

The 62-year-old mum speaks of a series of errors from her GP surgery and local hospitals, which plagued the last few months of her life.

Patricia, of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said: "The doctors have failed me, the NHS has failed me.

"It has been appalling because you're given to believe the NHS is there from cradle to grave for those who need it, whether you can afford it or whether you can't.

"They offered no other diagnosis."

Patricia, who worked as a councillor at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, told how she complained of severe back pain to her GP at Trent Vale Medical Centre multiple times.

Her family say the mum-of-two was then wrongly diagnosed with a urine infection, and later with a twisted spine.

After she failed to get better, Patricia was finally given an MRI.

The scan highlighted two tumours in her lungs, and a third tumour on her spine, which could be seen eating away at her vertebrae.

Patricia also spoke of the heart-breaking moment she lost use of her legs after suffering a fall at Bradwell Hospital in Stoke.

She added: "I had full use of my legs when I moved to Bradwell.

"They made me walk and within a fortnight I had lost the use of my legs, so I'd become paraplegic.

"I kept on saying they were pushing me too hard. I was really struggling to walk and I fell in the hospital."

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Patricia’s brother Anthony McKenzie, 63, has spoken out on his sister’s experiences following her death.

He fumed: "As far as I'm concerned, if you step back from this – all the way from the start to the end we've got all these problems down the chain and those problems individually are probably less critical.

"But overall, it's clearly a broken machine. It's sad and ridiculous.

"The fact is, had the cancer been correctly diagnosed in my sister's spine then the outcome where my sister has lost her life in a very short time may well have been very different.

"In my view, there are failures at the Royal Stoke, the failure of Bradwell Hospital and the failure of her doctors. It has all conglomerated into one nightmare."

The family are in the process of pursuing financial compensation from University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which they want paid to a charity of their choosing.

Royal Stoke chief executive, Paula Clark, said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mrs Whitehouse's family.

"I have asked for an immediate investigation into Mrs Whitehouse's care and we will support her family as this takes place."

A Trent Vale Medical Centre spokesman said: "Our deepest sympathies are with Patricia's family.

"While we are unable to comment on Patricia's specific case, this was a tragic and complex case and we offer our deepest condolences."


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