A senior coroner is calling for NHS England to make significant changes to GP practices after a patient’s previous cancer WAS NOT raised as a red flag.

The Bedford man died from multiorgan failure, radiation-induced bone cancer of the pelvis and prostate cancer on October 29 last year.

Senior coroner Andrew Walker says the fact the 65-year-old previously had cancer should have been acted on sooner – and says unless changes are made “there is a significant risk of future deaths”.

The man – a patient at Putnoe Medical Centre – died in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in London, in the October after a lengthy period of deterioration following a fall.

He previously had prostate cancer and the worry was that it might have returned. A doctor at the surgery suspected he was in so much pain due to a fracture and sent him for an X-ray on August 8, 2025.

It was here that the man was found to have an osteosarcoma – otherwise known as bone cancer. He was taken to theatre on October 13 but nevertheless, failed to recover.

But – despite being told that even if it had been caught earlier, the patient would still likely have had a poor outcome – the north London coroner is worried the treatment had not moved quickly enough.

And he’s urged NHS England to ensure GPs escalate any health concerns – no matter what they are – if a patient has previously had cancer.

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

He wrote in his Prevention of Future Deaths report to NHS England: “Previous cancer is a red flag and a referral should be made without waiting for further tests. Guidance to GPs where referral for specialist evaluation waiting times are between six months to 12 months.”

But NHS England’s national medical director said in response: “It would seem that in this case, the GP did consider metastatic prostate cancer quite quickly and initiated investigation accordingly.

"On treatment-related cancer risks, we would expect any risks of cancer treatment, such as the risk of radiation-induced subsequent cancers, to be outlined to the patient at the point of treatment consent and reflected in the consent form."

The director added that in this case, the patient was seen “very soon” after the bone cancer was found and added: “the interval between the raised alkaline phosphatase noted in primary care and his first admission was three weeks, and he went on to the sarcoma service rapidly thereafter.”

But added Putnoe Medical Centre has reviewed the case and although it says it “followed appropriate clinical guidance”, it has vowed in future to stay alert to what it calls “possible ‘red herrings’ in clinical presentation, particularly where symptoms may initially appear consistent with musculoskeletal injury or another diagnosis”.

And to reassess the precise anatomical location of pain and where a patient is clinically unwell, “consideration should be given to whether hospital admission may be appropriate or required to expedite investigations.”