Airdrie teen who died of cancer had referral downgraded due to her age
Airdrie teenager Isla Sneddon was 17 when she died on March 2 after a six-month battle with cancer.
Her family said if her symptoms were taken as seriously as adult breast cancer treatment, she may still be alive today.
Isla sought help from her GP aged 14 over painful breast lumps, which were first ruled to be fibroadenoma - benign hormonal lumps - in July 2022.
By June 2024, the pain had worsened and the lumps grew in size, with GPs placing an urgent referral for biopsies after cancer was suspected.
Relatives said Isla's referral was downgraded by the breast clinic from "urgent" to "routine" that same month because her age meant she did not meet national guidelines.
In Scotland, adults with an urgent referral must not wait more than 62 days for cancer scans.
Isla's condition deteriorated further and by September 2024 - after intensive care and a 10-week stay at Glasgow's Golden Jubilee hospital - a sarcoma was discovered on the lining of her heart.
Sarcomas are rare and fast-spreading forms of cancer, and doctors discovered Isla's cancer originated in her breast.
By the time the discovery was made, it had spread to her heart, lymph nodes and lungs.
Parents Mark and Michelle were told she had just six to 12 months to live.
'By the time they got to it, it was too late,' cousin Mairi McGee said.
She has launched a petition on behalf of the family demanding the Scottish Government treats cancer suspicion in children with the same urgency as adult patients.
'We want to make clear that all of the care that Isla received from the doctors and nurses was fantastic,' she said.
'The problem we found was that if that referral in June had been placed on a doctor's desk without an age on it, and Isla was seen as urgent, then we could be in a really different place.
'Isla could still be here, she could have had longer.'
Mairi added: "We just think the guidelines are wrong - it is totally crazy and should have been taken more seriously in June."
Scotland has one of the highest mortality rates for under-18s in Western Europe, with approximately 45 infants, children and young people dying every year.
The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are being warned mandatory clinical standards must be introduced to stop more young lives being lost.
Alongside the ask on urgent paediatric referrals, the family are asking for clear accountability and follow ups when referrals are delayed or downgraded, and training for clinicians to recognise early signs of cancer in children.
The family also demand a "formal review into paediatric diagnostic delays" to "identify systemic failures".
Mairi said her family are "devastated" at the loss of the "vibrant" teenager.
"We can't see how we can possibly move on," she said.
"It feels like we have been in limbo since the day she died.
"This has been horrific. Even though Isla was given six to 12 months, we all had a lot of hope.
"Isla was determined to the very end, putting on her wig and eyelashes when she got up in the morning.
"She got six months and two days. Her mum and dad bought her prom dress and she was really looking forward to it but she is obviously not going to be there.
"Isla was responding well to chemotherapy. She just took it all in her stride.
"On the day that Isla died, we didn't expect her to die that day. She was unwell with a bit of a cough and doctors thought it may be viral but days later she died.
"It was so quick and unexpected. We didn't expect to not walk back out of the hospital with her."
Scottish Labour's deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie described the case as a "scandal".
She said: "This is an utterly heartbreaking case and my thoughts are with Isla Sneddon's family.
"It is a scandal that Isla and her family were so badly failed and lessons must be learned from this awful case to ensure no more lives are needlessly lost in this way."
She added: "There must be a review into how cancer referrals for young people are handled so we can ensure people of all ages get the swift, lifesaving cancer treatment they need."
Annie Wells, women's health minister for the Scottish Tories, said: 'My thoughts are with Isla Sneddon's family and friends who will be continuing to grieve losing her in such awful circumstances.
'No parent should have to endure the loss of a child after seeing them go through incredible pain.
'I am deeply concerned that her referral for a biopsy was downgraded simply because of her age.
'I support these calls from her family for mandatory standards to be introduced in relation to paediatric care to ensure that children are treated the same as adults and we never see a repeat of this tragic case.'
READ NEXT: 'I've lost 11 stone partly with Mounjaro - but I can't look at myself in the mirror'
READ NEXT: 'Cancer turns lives upside down': Mum and daughter reveal they both battled cancer
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: 'Our thoughts are with the family of Isla on their loss.
'The Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer have been developed to support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist. These guidelines have recently been reviewed with input from clinicians and cancer charities to ensure they are evidence based and help support early identification of cancer.
'To support this a new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched on 30 April 2024 in NHS Scotland, supported by NHS Education for Scotland. Gateway C provides innovative, and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making.
'This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.'
The petition set up by Isla Sneddon's family can be accessed here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
NHS staff sickness rate highest for 10 years as levels rise in 18 Scottish health boards
Scotland's struggling NHS is facing even more pressure after it emerged sickness rates among staff have reached the highest level for ten years. A new report revealed the rate for 2024-25 was 6.4 per cent – up from 6.2 per cent the previous year. The NHS Education for Scotland report showed that was 'the highest rate in the past ten years'. It comes after the Scottish Tories claimed patients are 'dying needlessly' as A&E departments see waiting times worsening amid fears of a winter disaster. The latest worrying sickness rates come despite the fact that in 2009 the Scottish Government set a national target which aimed to reduce the NHS staff absence rate to 4 per cent. However, new figures for the year to the end of March showed that sickness absence rates decreased in four NHS boards and increased in 18. At the Scottish Ambulance Service, the sickness absence rate increased by 0.8 per cent to 9.7 per cent – the highest sickness absence rate of any health board. The data showed the health service employed 161,333.8 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff – up 0.1 per cent on the previous year. That included 67,714.6 WTE nursing and midwifery staff, with the number of absences amongst this group falling by 23.1 per cent to 2,601.2 WTE posts. As well as that, the figures detailed a reduction in spending on bank and agency staff. Spending on agency medical and dental staff dropped by 16.7 per cent to £108million. The bill for agency and bank nursing staff fell for the first time, to £410million, with this linked to falling spending on agency workers. The report said: 'After more than doubling in a three-year period, total nursing bank and agency expenditure decreased during the past year.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Our aim is to limit all agency use as much as possible.' It comes as Public Health Scotland revealed more than a third of patients were not seen within the four-hour target last week in Scotland's A&E departments. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the figures were 'nothing short of disgraceful'. He said: 'How many more families need to lose loved ones before John Swinney and Neil Gray finally come up with a plan to address this crisis?' The proportion of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours fell from 66.9 to 64.9 per cent last week, even though attendances were fractionally down. Mr Gray said: 'I know that some people are still waiting too long for treatment, and I am determined to drive improvement.' Other figures showed a 3.2 per cent increase in cancer deaths over the past decade, with lung cancer was the most common killer.
Daily Record
11 hours ago
- Daily Record
Health bosses spend more than £20m on Capital Investment programme
Ambitious capital programme unveiled by NHS Ayrshire and Arran An ambitious Capital Investment Programme of more than £20 million has been unveiled by NHS Ayrshire & Arran for 2025-26. The Core Capital Allocation came to £9.156m, while £1m went towards Foxgrove, the Irvine-based National Secure Inpatient Service. Some £1.6 million went to the Whole System Estates Plan and £441,000 to the National Lab Information Management System, while £200,000 went to the National Treatment Centre and £266,000 to Plant De-carbonisation Slippage. A total of £7.47m went towards a Business Continuity Plan and £1.075m to Sustainability. Funding for Foxgrove and the National Treatment Centre is reimbursed based upon actual expenditure. The National Labs Information System is a national programme. The Building for Better Care and Fleet Decarbonisation funding was brokered from funding in previous years and deferred until 2025-26. The Scottish Government requested new bids for electric vehicle infrastructure and decarbonisation proposals in April and May 2025. The Scottish Government allocated £600,000 to NHS Ayrshire & Arran in 2025-26 for the purposes of installing EV charging infrastructure. The budget is to be spent on those projects included in the bid submitted to Scottish Government. The board are to spend the funding on the back office software costs listed in the bid and the remainder can be spent on the projects in the bid that the Health Board thinks are most appropriate (given that they are not providing funding for the full amount in the bid at this point and as long as the costs are capital. Some £475,000 was allocated to the board in 2025-26 for the purposes of installing LED lighting at Arran War Memorial Hospital and creating decarbonisation pathways for Ayr Hospital and Ayrshire Central Hospital. The budget is to be spent on these projects (estimated costs) and if there are monies unspent from these projects it may be set against some of the other projects in the bid. The Scottish Government require a report at the end of the financial year confirming that funds have been spent within that period.
Daily Record
11 hours ago
- Daily Record
Parents unable to care for their children hail lifeline support in Ayrshire
Aberlour Children's Charity offers parents help to cope after a child is taken into permanent care. Ayrshire parents whose children have been taken into care have hailed lifeline support helping them cope with their loss. They praised expert support helping ease feelings of despair and isolation after being affected by child protection proceedings and unable to parent full-time. Aberlour Children's Charity delivers Family Matters, a pioneering support scheme in Ayrshire, offering parents help to cope after a child is taken into permanent care. Assistant director Deborah Grant said the loss of a child can be devastating for parents often already dealing with issues ranging from domestic abuse and substance misuse to poor housing, mental health issues and learning needs. Deborah said: "A child being taken into permanent care can have an enduring and wide-ranging impact on their families. "Birth parents can become crushed by the loss and feelings of despair, and, without expert help, those powerful emotions can sabotage their future and that of their families. "It is about allowing them space to reflect on their absent children and better understand their family's experience and come to terms with it." She continued: "We support people to break habits of self-sabotaging behaviour often rooted in fear and low self-esteem, to talk about the sadness of missing their child, their childhood milestones and birthdays. "We offer a space for parents to talk and begin to understand what has happened and how they can help influence what happens next." One to one and group sessions held at a range of community venues across South Ayrshire allow parents to talk about children taken into permanent care or adoption. The Aberlour support team also offers practical help on a range of issues, from managing household budgets and housing to substance misuse and mental health. Family Matters, funded by the Scottish Government through the Corra Foundation, helps parents understand the change needed to provide safe homes for their other children and avoid further social work intervention. The experience of birth parents can also help improve the process and ease the impact of children entering care, according to Aberlour, which hopes to strengthen and expand the service in the years ahead. A child being taken into care can also trigger feelings of confusion and guilt among siblings remaining at home and the charity's expert support protects their wellbeing as well as their parents. One mum said the service became a lifeline when she was at risk of floundering after her daughter was taken into care. She said: "I started working with Aberlour around three years ago and for me it was a lifeline. "It gave me hope that things could get better after my daughter was adopted and I lost all contact. "When it became final my mental health deteriorated. I was grieving a child who was still alive, and I felt so alone. "Things were bad for a while, but Aberlour understood how I was feeling and, although I couldn't fix the situation, I began to understand that I could make it better and properly focus on my other kids. "I have bad days like everyone but I can cope now and deal with things. "I was definitely in a downward spiral but feel like I was given another chance." Fleur Steven, who leads the Family Matters team, said group sessions are particularly important to help parents share their experience and understand their feelings of loss. Fleur said: "The experience of a child being taken into care can be hugely destabilising for parents and their families. "After birth parents realise they will no longer have any involvement in their child's lives, they can feel terribly isolated and believe no one understands how they are feeling or sympathise with them. "Our groups allow them to speak to others who have experienced the same loss and talk about what happened and what happens next. "There is a lot of sadness but hope too."
