“I feel like they never gave me any chance to survive.”
Mrs Skeffington, who lives with partner John and has five grandchildren, all under the age of six, has gone from a size 24 and over 15 stone to a size ten and just over eight stone due to the disease stiffling her appetite.
Cancer specialists at Heartlands told her the cancer was so advanced that they could not operate to remove it.
“They wouldn’t listen to me and I was treated worse than an animal,” she said. “It makes me so angry that I won’t see my grandchildren grow up. That breaks my heart and is the worst thing in all of this.
“My daughter is pregnant and due to give birth in January. It upsets me that I will probably never get to see that grandchild and they won’t know who I am.
“I had all the classic symptoms of cancer but no-one did anything about it and now it is too late.”
Angela’s sister Christine Layton, from Rugeley, said: “My sister was in so much pain and one time she collapsed on a pavement after leaving the A&E and a nurse drove her home.
“It is unbelievable that someone can be treated so badly. The signs were there in her records for all to see. She was going to doctors for help but they let her down.”
Mrs Skeffington criticised her GP, Dr Shah, who works for NHS Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust (PCT), for not taking her complaints seriously and referring her as an emergency for scans.
A referral that he did book in June after months of requests has not resulted in an appointment as yet.
Dr Doug Wulff, medical director at NHS Birmingham East and North, speaking on behalf of the GP and the PCT, said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on individual cases.
“However, NHS Birmingham East and North is not aware of having received any complaint from the patient concerned.
“We would encourage the patient to contact us should they wish to take the matter further and we will undertake a full investigation.”
A spokeswoman for Heart of England Foundation Trust, which runs Heartlands Hospital, said: “We are very sorry to learn of Mrs Skeffington’s concerns and, based on the information we have already been given, we are looking into the issues raised and welcome the opportunity to meet with her to address the matters further.
“The safety and care of all our patients is a priority for our doctors and nurses and if there is a case where we have not delivered the best care possible, we will always investigate into why and how we can do things better.”
