Cancer victim, 19, died after pleading in agony to see her doctor

Cancer victim, 19, died after pleading in agony to see her doctor in person for more than a YEAR as family say GPs ‘use Covid as an excuse to see fewer people’

• Amelia Ellerby, 19, died after pleading to see her doctor for more than a year
• Lump was only ‘size of a pea’ when she first contacted her GP in February 2021
• She rang her GP again for appointment but was told to wait six months for scan
• After efforts to be seen, in March 2022 she filled in form and was contacted
• Scan revealed cancer and she died in June after being given two months to live

A family has revealed how a 19-year-old girl died riddled with cancer after pleading in agony to see her doctor for more than a year.

The family of Amelia Ellerby are demanding answers and have slammed GPs for using Covid-19 as ‘an excuse’ not to see patients.

The lump on Miss Ellerby’s back was only ‘the size of a pea’ when she first contacted her GP in York during lockdown in February 2021. 

She was asked to fill in an online consultation form and her case was dealt with over the phone. 

Miss Ellerby was told it was probably just a cyst and she would be referred for a scan but there was a six month wait.

Amelia Ellerby, 19, from York, pleaded in agony to see her doctor for more than a year

Around six weeks later, she rang again, asking for an appointment, and was told she would just have to wait for the scan.

She was prescribed antibiotics over the phone without being seen. She kept ringing back begging to be seen as the lump grew and the pain increased.

In February this year, she was in so much pain she called 999. Paramedics attended but declined jurisdiction of the case since she was under her GP.

In March, she again filled in an online GP form. But this time, a concerned doctor realised something was very wrong and called her in straightaway.

Aunt Claire Hanshaw, whom Miss Ellerby lived with, said: ‘She kept ringing them every six weeks because the lump was still there.

‘She did not know what it was and wanted to be seen. They just kept saying she had been referred for a scan. She did not get seen for a year.

‘When she did eventually get seen by a doctor he got her in two days later for an X-ray.

‘A week and half later she had an MRI scan because the doctor was concerned and thought it might be cancer.

Miss Ellerby was told she had only two months to live. The 19-year-old died on June 12

‘In March this year she filled in the online form again. Luckily, the doctor who rang her said for her to go straight down and said she should have been seen before.’

Miss Ellerby had the MRI scan towards the end of March. While she was still waiting for the results two weeks later she was in so much pain she went to A&E in York.

They did a CT scan which revealed cancer on her lungs, lymph nodes, and groin well as in her back. They admitted her to try and get her pain under control.

She was referred to Leeds for more scans and pain management.

She started chemotherapy there in May. But she had only had one round when the results of the scans came through.

Devastated Miss Ellerby was then told she had only two months to live. She died on June 12 and her funeral takes place tomorrow at York Crematorium.

The family have had no explanation or apology from the surgery about the reason for the delay.

‘We have all worked through Covid anyway. We are furious. It is time doctors stopped using Covid as an excuse to see fewer people.

‘She knew she was dying and said ‘You should sue ’em. Someone should pay for this’.

‘She was angry she had not been seen. She could have been cured or had a couple more years of life if they had kept it

‘Obviously, when she first found the lump it was a lot of smaller. If she had been seen it could have been removed and she would still be here now.

Miss Ellerby’s other aunt, Meredith Stier, from Sunderland, said: ‘She came to see me and my husband, who is a paramedic, in October 2021. My husband told her to go back to the doctor as it was a hard lump and he was worried. It wasn’t a cyst.

‘She kept ringing the GPs and they told her that she was on the list for the ultrasound and she would just have to wait. During that time, the lump kept growing in size. She was in a lot of pain. She kept working, despite being in pain.

‘Amelia always put a brave face on for her friends and family. But deep down she was really scared and angry, we all were. It felt like she had been failed massively by the system. My husband and I, saw her in October 2021 with the pea sized lump, and she died June 12. That’s how aggressive this cancer was.

‘It’s awful, they blame Covid but I just don’t buy it at all. Her gran was ringing the hospital every day for weeks begging them to see Amelia.

‘We understand that so many other people are in the same situation. But she was 19 years old, a whole life ahead and nobody was listening to the pain she was in.’

The Priory Medical Centre, in Acomb, York, where Miss Ellerby had been a patient for six years, said it does not comment on individual cases.

Ms Hanshaw said Miss Ellerby coped with her terminal diagnosis with great courage – even going on to plan parts of her funeral.

Ms Hanshaw said Miss Ellerby, whose father Mark died seven years ago, was shocked and upset by the diagnosis.

‘But she tried to stay positive for everybody else. She accepted it. She said she was going to be back with her dad,’ she added.

Primary care providers NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) also said they would not comment on individual cases.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which carries out scans, said: ‘Our sympathies are with Amelia’s family at this terribly sad time.

‘The way appointments are allocated and prioritised for diagnostic procedures such as scans is dependent on the nature of the referral that we receive, either from a GP or a clinician within the hospital.

‘If a referral is made to investigate a potential cancer, then this is fast-tracked and would be done quickly, usually within two weeks. We continued to receive fast-track referrals and maintain this service throughout the pandemic.

‘Early detection and diagnosis of cancer is incredibly important and we would encourage anyone who has any concerns to contact their GP as soon as possible.

‘We would also encourage Amelia’s family to contact us if they have any questions about the care she received.’

The funeral at 1pm tomorrow will have a superheroes theme, which was one of former Huntington School pupil Miss Ellerby’s final wishes.

She also chose some of the music, including I Will Survive and See You Again, which was played at the funeral of her father.

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