Long Sutton woman fulfills father’s dying wish petitioning for increased NHS funding for cancer care

A woman is fulfilling her father’s dying wish by petitioning for an increase in NHS funding to provide quicker treatment for cancer patients.

Imogen Varnham, 35, from Long Sutton sadly lost her dad Wayne Delahoy - a keen cyclist and marathon runner - after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in April aged 61. He died at home soon after on June 3.

Mr Delahoy, who played at Holbeach Football Club, had a family history of pancreatic cancer, visiting a surgery four times suffering from severe bloating before taking himself to Peterborough City Hospital A&E.

Mrs Varnham said: “We do feel that the GPs failed him by not sending him for testing.

“On his fourth trip to the GP, his stomach was so distended, he should have been sent to A&E straight away. We had a private CT scan booked as we knew something was wrong and the GP refused to sign it off.

“Upon his diagnosis, he was sent home with a box of paracetamol and a belly full of cancer and told to wait for an oncology letter, with no tests carried out.”

Mr Delahoy needed to have fluid drained from his abdomen and waited for 16 hours in A&E with further delays due to a Bank Holiday ‘making progress to his care painfully slow.’

In the 52 days between his diagnosis and death, Mrs Varnham feels the family faced obstacles within the care system and that the ‘whole palliative care system is not set up to support people.’

She said: “Four weeks before his diagnosis he was mountain biking, he did an Iron Man and marathons, so it was completely out of the blue.

“This needs to change and I promised him I would make that change, and starting the petition is just the start to change cancer care for everybody.”

They were also told that the wait for a biopsy would be 16 weeks and feel that ‘they saw the scans, gave him a diagnosis and wrote him off, not knowing the man he was and how much he wanted to fight for time.’

Mrs Varnham’s paternal grandmother died 20 years before her father, and in that time 'cancer care and cancer treatment has got worse, not better.’

She said: “He was so brave the entire time.

“He was a marathon runner and all he kept saying to us was ‘one mile at a time.’

“He was desperate to stay around for his grandchildren and he did not want to die.”

Mrs Varnham's petition, which currently has 1,178 signatures, states that ‘the government should provide more funding to ensure faster cancer diagnosis and treatment by reducing waiting times for biopsies, scans and chemotherapy.’

Mrs Varnham, who works as a virtual assistant, said: “He was stage four at the time of diagnosis and they couldn't pinpoint what type of cancer it was.

The petition will need 100,00 signatures to be considered as a parliamentary debate and Mrs Varnham is enlisting the help of Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings.

Mrs Varnham has described how her sister had an eight hour wait for medication at Spalding’s Johnson Hospital and having to source medication.

Driving around the county to access basic end of life medications he required meant ‘time was taken away from spending with him’ and that medications ‘should be accessed easily, even on weekends.’

She said: “Every day was a relentless fight to get him basic care and this needs to change.

“We were told it would be palliative care only and in that time he really, really suffered.

“It is terrifying to think that if one in two people get cancer then this shouldn't be happening.”

The petition is to spread awareness about the family’s experience and to ‘guarantee patients timely access to life-saving care through increased investment, staffing and resources, so delays do not cost lives.’

Mrs Varnham described an eight hour wait for medication at the Johnson Hospital in Spalding and having to source medication which took away time she could spend with her dad.

The devoted daughter said her final goodbyes to her dad, and from talking to others during the diagnosis and after his death knows ‘we are not alone in the struggles we faced as a family, and know of so many others who have been through and are going through the same issues with cancer care.’

She added: “We were blocked and had obstacles at every opportunity but he was so brave.

“I am invested in the petition as cancer can affect anyone and I do not know of a single person who hasn't been affected by cancer in some way.

“I do have three children and want to know that if something were to happen to anyone else, it would be handled better"

The NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) enables joint working between the local authority, the NHS, and wider partners to support people in the county with the highest quality health and wellbeing.

A spokesperson from NHS Lincolnshire ICB said: “We would like to offer our deepest condolences to Mr Delahoy’s family.

“We are unable to comment on individual cases, due to patient confidentiality rules, but will happily speak to the family about their concerns as appropriate.

“Early diagnosis of cancer remains a national priority, and one on which we continue to focus through the collective efforts of colleagues across both general practice and hospital settings.”

The spokesperson went on to say: “While we acknowledge the positive progress made in improving early detection, we remain committed to further reducing delays in diagnosis and ensuring equitable access for all.

“Ongoing collaboration is essential if we are to deliver even better outcomes for patients and their families.

“In Lincolnshire, we are supporting new approaches by delivering a national case-finding pilot project aimed at improving the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Although this work is at an early stage, we are optimistic that it will contribute to a broader capability to identify potential pancreatic cancer sooner, ultimately improving outcomes for those affected.”

Click here to sign the petition, which is available on the UK Government and Petitions website.

If the petition achieves 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to it and if it receives 100,000, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.