Police officer, 39, diagnosed with brain tumour after GP said she had vertigo

Emma Capper is a patient at the Royton and Crompton Family Practice (Wellbeing Centre) which has only recently come under intense criticism from patients who claim they struggle to book an appointment in-person and on the phone.

Ms Capper said she had a similar uphill battle with the practice as she tried for weeks to try to speak to her GP about her concerning symptoms.

The police officer was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and, despite receiving all-clear in 2018 after a series of operations, she said she should have been monitored as potentially vulnerably to other cancers at the GP surgery.

Yet when she started to feel unwell around four months ago with dizzy spells, headaches, sickness and a loss of mobility, not only was she denied the chance to speak to a GP but a telephone appointment with a nurse meant she walked away with a misdiagnosis of vertigo.

During this time, Ms Capper said even her personality changed as she became short-tempered and was sent home from work early on one occasion due to her out-of-character behaviour.

These are normally tell-tale signs of a brain tumour – but Ms Capper claims she fell through the net at the Royton surgery.

The mum of three said she “spent weeks ringing up trying to see a doctor”, only for a nurse to diagnose her with vertigo over the phone.

Ms Capper was then able to get a subsequent face-to-face appointment, only to return home once again with medication for vertigo.

Emma Capper (right) with her family.

Four weeks later when her symptoms hadn’t subsided, she rang the practice one more time and was again sent home with a prescription of antibiotics to treat vertigo.

It was only one week later when she said she was “that poorly” she decided to check herself into A&E after feeling that there was “absolutely zero point” trying to ring the surgery again as it had proved “a complete waste of time”.

However, from A&E she was promptly rushed to Salford Royal Hospital in an ambulance for an emergency CT scan which revealed a sizeable cancerous tumour had begun to grow in her brain.

She was then subsequently rushed into surgery to have it removed – but she was lucky she caught it in time.

Ms Capper said: “It’s a shame that doctors wouldn’t listen to me.

“It wouldn’t have changed the fact that I had a brain tumour, but it’s still an absolute joke to try to get an appointment."

As a police officer, she said she “sympathises” with the NHS and recognises the difficulty in working long hours under short staff.

But she said doctors should have flagged her symptoms and kept her on a record because of her history of breast cancer.

Ms Capper said she felt let down by the surgery.

Ms Capper said one of the paramedics in the ambulance even tried to encourage her to file an official complaint against the practice, but she decided against it.

She said: “I don’t want anyone to get into trouble but, at the same time, when you’re talking about people’s health, it’s a completely different matter.

“People ring the doctors for a reason.

“I feel let down,"

In a statement to The Oldham Times, the Royton & Crompton Family Practice said: “Whilst we are unable to comment on individual patient circumstances, we would like to reassure you that the care of the patients at Royton & Crompton Family Practice is paramount.”

The surgery said it “recognises the difficulties” patients endure when requesting an appointment but said it has faced an “exponential increase in demand” for its services post-Covid.

The mum of three was misdiagnosed with vertigo during a telephone appointment.

However, it said it has already rolled out a handful of new systems to try to mitigate the influx of patients and reduce telephone demand.

The statement concluded: “The practice operates a robust complaints procedure and aims to resolve patient concerns immediately and employs a dedicated patient liaison officer.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our services and value patient feedback.”

Oldham Council leader, Amanda Chadderton, speaking earlier this month, said she was “horrified” to hear Royton patients were still struggling to book an appointment at the practice after receiving complaints from residents last year.

She vowed to liaise with the practice to resolve the growing concerns but pointed out GP practices across the country are facing a significant shortage of GPs.

The good news is that Ms Capper’s surgery went well and the entire tumour was successfully removed.

However, she is still in the process of recovering and undergoing treatment at The Christie which has prompted her friends and family to organise a ‘team challenge’ to raise money for the specialist cancer treatment centre.

Ms Capper’s friend, Sophie Tonge, has organised the fundraiser which will participants complete a marathon, a 42km bike stint and a rowing challenge across The Channel on August 14, 2022.

For those interested in donating to the cause, the JustGiving page can be found by searching Sophie Tonge, Team Challenge 42.

Royton & Family Practice was also recently rated as one of the worst GP practices in Oldham to book an appointment, according to the NHS' Patients Survey 2022.