A health watchdog says changes have been made to how people with thyroid problems are assessed, following slack care in the case of a woman who was eventually found to have cancer.
She required extensive surgery and radiotherapy, according to a decision published today by Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill.
The woman had gone to a GP in 2011 about a 2cm lump in her neck. Blood tests were normal and she had an ultrasound scan at Pacific Radiology.
The sonographer - scan operator "Mr B" - did not scan the lymph nodes near the thyroid.
Radiologist "Dr C" thought at the time that the scan suggested goitre, an enlargement of the thyroid gland, but "he now feels that the right lower lobe nodule shows findings that are suspicious, and he should have recommended a biopsy at the time", Hill's report says.