Patient dies and hundreds harmed due to appointment delays An example of that might be someone who had been due to be followed up for an eye condition that may have deteriorated, and may have had an effect on their vision. While we can potentially stop their vision from deteriorating further or slow that process down, you can't undo any damage that may have already have occurred. Dr Nasmyth also said hospital managers were aware of one terminally ill patient whose appointment was delayed "and by the time their problems came to light their disease had progressed to a point where our intervention could do nothing to improve the quality or the duration of their life. Clearly that may have been different had their scheduled appointment been on time. The patient has since died. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmoreland and Lonsdale, said he knew of at least one cancer patient who had died after a routine check-up was missed. After a "four or five month" delay, doctors found her stomach cancer had spread and she later died. Mr Farron said the trust had been "a basket case" but was now improving thanks to a new management team. He said: "It was thought this problem was down to a new computer system, but actually it was down to shocking management." Obviously there needs to be an apology from the trust and an explanation about how it happened. Last September the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a damning report into maternity services at Furness General, one of the trust's three hospitals, following the deaths of five babies and two mothers. It found "major concerns." Police also launched an investigation Later, Monitor, which regulates foundation trusts, examined the trust and found "crisis level" staffing in the A&E unit at Lancaster Infirmary, above average mortality rates and the backlog with outpatient follow-ups. Monitor's investigation found the backlog, which dates from at least 2010, was "not recognised as a serious clinical problem."