Mum’s 7 month wait for cancer treatment as Concordia folds

Serena Jacobs was diagnosed with a cancerous mole on her cheek at the end of January.

She was under the care of skincare service Concordia Specialist Care Services.

But with just a few days notice, Concordia pulled the plug on its services in May.

It left thousands of patients unsure of their future care and North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group and Colchester Hospital had to step in at short notice.

There are at least 10,000 active patients from Concordia now being dealt with at Colchester Hospital.

As a result Serena, from West Mersea, has faced a series of obstacles and is still waiting for her cancerous mole to be removed.

She said: “It does cause a lot of stress.

“I was with Concordia after being referred by my GP surgery.

“We called two weeks after I was diagnosed as there was a bit of trouble with the company.

“Since then my daughter has been calling and we found out Concordia had gone.

“My notes were mislaid during the changeover and the wait has been agonising.

“Nobody has told us what’s going on.”

Serena was booked to have surgery to remove the mole a couple of weeks ago at Colchester Hospital but she said she was turned away as staff did not have the right equipment.

She was then offered another surgery date for yesterday but was told two days before it had been cancelled again.

She said: “They cancelled it again as they said because it’s on my face I need to be transferred to plastic surgery.

“I spoke to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service and they said it should have been dealt with by Concordia. I’m just so upset.”

Serena is in the process of lodging an official complaint with PALS.

Jan Ingle, deputy director of communications and engagement at the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust which runs Colchester Hospital, said: “We are sorry to learn of Mrs Jacob’s concerns and we will look into them carefully.

“We will also make sure she gets the care she needs as soon as possible.”