A WOMAN dying of cancer fears she may be dead before a hospital meets her to discuss complaints over her treatment.

Doctors at Southend Hospital missed Catherine Watkins’s pancreatic cancer more than 20 times so when she was eventually diagnosed, her condition had become terminal.

Mrs Watkins, 55, of Rutland Avenue, Southend, has held off suing the hospital and has instead focused of raising awareness of the illness, but says she may now reconsider after she was told the earliest she could meet hospital bosses was in three weeks.

Mrs Watkins, who has two adult daughters and a 15-year-old foster son, said: “I haven’t made an official complaint against the hospital, but they got in touch with me. I explained I wasn’t interested in suing them and I just wanted to be heard so other people don’t end up like me.

“They said they wanted to have a chat so I agreed, but they have now told me I will have to wait three weeks to see them. I could be dead by then. I’m absolutely disgusted and am beginning to change my mind about suing them. I feel have treated me so badly. To invite me to a meeting and then make me wait so long when I have so little time left is awful.”

Mrs Watkins’ condition began to worsen last December, but despite all the indications of a serious illness she was told she had gallstones and was refused a CT scan.

When she finally got her scan, her condition had become terminal.

Mrs Watkins has intended to spend her last days raising awareness of the condition with interviews, TV and radio appearances. She also hopes to survive long enough to do a parachute jump for pancreatic cancer research and to renew her wedding vows with her husband, Bob, 61 at the beginning of October.

A spokeswoman for Southend Hospital said: “We are liaising directly with Mrs Watkins to talk through her concerns at the earliest possible opportunity.”