\n Nadeen Lister, 53, from Stanley, says she was left feeling ignored and unheard after first seeking help for a lump she discovered in her left breast in 2017.\n<\/p>\n
\n After being referred to County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Nadeen was assessed by former breast cancer clinical lead Mr Amir Bhatti.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Bhatti was a director of two private healthcare companies to which \u2018two-week-wait\u2019 breast outpatient clinics were contracted, on a \u2018pay-per-patient\u2019 agreement.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen was urgently referred to the two-week-wait clinic by her GP, having found a lump on her left breast when having a shower.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen Lister (Image: STUART BOULTON)\n<\/p>\n
\n She recalls being told the lump was likely to be fatty tissue and was “nothing to worry about”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Believing she had been given the all-clear, Nadeen returned home.\n<\/p>\n
\n But, over the following months, it became larger until it had reached what she described as the size of an orange.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alarmed by the changes, she returned to her GP and was urgently referred for further assessment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Further investigations revealed she had breast tumours and was suffering from lobular breast cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was shocked,” Nadeen said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen Lister (Image: NADINE LISTER)\n<\/p>\n
\n “After being told there was nothing to worry about, to suddenly find out I had cancer was incredibly difficult to process.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The diagnosis marked the beginning of an exhausting and traumatic battle for her life.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen underwent a mastectomy to remove the cancerous breast.\n<\/p>\n
\n During surgery, she was told that doctors discovered the disease was extensive.\n<\/p>\n
\n “There was cancer in every slice,” she added.\n<\/p>\n
\n Before her diagnosis was confirmed, Nadeen says she was left in limbo and advised to go on a planned holiday while doctors decided whether she had cancer.\n<\/p>\n
\n Amir Bhatti (Image: SUBMIT)\n<\/p>\n
\n She remembers being told to “have a lovely time”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Instead, she spent the entire holiday in fear.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I panicked throughout that holiday, worrying that I had cancer,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was impossible to switch off.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Following surgery, Nadeen endured rounds of chemotherapy at Shotley Bridge Hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n During treatment, she contracted sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition that left her seriously ill.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen Lister during treatment (Image: NADINE LISTER)\n<\/p>\n
\n She later underwent further chemotherapy and radiotherapy, receiving a total of ten rounds of treatment as she fought the disease.\n<\/p>\n
\n The physical toll was immense, but the emotional scars remain, according to Nadeen.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I felt let down and not heard,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I was trying to feel heard and tried to be strong and get my point across, but I was ignored.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Nearly a decade on, Nadeen continues to question whether her cancer could have been diagnosed sooner.\n<\/p>\n
\n The County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust sign (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)\n<\/p>\n
\n She believes a biopsy should have been carried out when she first attended the breast clinic and is convinced that returning to her GP ultimately saved her life.\n<\/p>\n
\n “If I hadn’t gone back, I don’t think I’d be here today,” she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Her case is one of hundreds now being scrutinised as part of the ongoing breast cancer scandal at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.\n<\/p>\n
\n Independent reviews have uncovered serious failings within the service, including missed cancers, delayed diagnoses and inappropriate surgical procedures, in what the report described as “decade-long systemic failures”.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nadeen during her treatment (Image: NADINE LISTER)\n<\/p>\n
\n About 1,500 patient records are currently being examined, while Durham Police continues to investigate whether any criminal offences may have been committed and has created a police portal.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Now, Nadeen has joined forces with fellow patients and dozens of other women in a campaign demanding a full public inquiry.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n The group, which has grown to between 90 and 100 women, says patients and families deserve answers about how such failings were allowed to happen.\n<\/p>\n