'Doctors missed my young daughter's cancer - they thought it was constipation'

A mum has said she feels 'let down' after her three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer after having stomach issues her whole life.

Claire Formby, 38, claims doctors at Warrington Hospital missed Ella Formby-Smith's cancer and instead told her it was constipation or a viral infection. The hospital has now launched a probe.

NHS worker Claire said toddler Ella was checked over three times before she was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma - a rare and aggressive cancer. Ella is now having chemotherapy.

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And Claire, from Runcorn, Cheshire, said she had been told her daughter could have been born with the cancer. She said: "I'm just feeling so let down with the number of times we’ve been back and forth. I just can't get my head around how it’s not been detected in three years of going to hospital with stomach problems.

“She’s been diagnosed as lactose and dairy intolerant and every other time we’ve been we were told its constipation or a viral infection."

Claire said Ella had been back and forth to doctors due to stomach issues since birth. However, when the issues began to become more severe in May, 2023, Ella began to spend more time in Warrington Hospital.

Claire claims she was told initially Ella was constipated or had a viral infection. However, when her condition continued to deteriorate, she insisted further investigations were done.

Ella was then referred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she underwent an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed a large mass at the back of Ella’s stomach – and after an MRI the following week, she was tragically diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma.

Now, Ella is on her seventh round of