A County Durham mum whose reconstructed breast turned black was forced to go under the knife a second time just days after doctors told her it was fine.
Emma Brewster, from St Helen Auckland, had her breast rebuilt in June last year but within a week it was changing colour, had started to smell and was weeping pus.
She says she told a doctor she wasn’t happy and asked if she needed antibiotics “multiple times” during a post-op appointment a week later but was sent home without treatment.
But days later the 42-year-old was rushed back to hospital for emergency surgery after her condition worsened.
It is the second time Emma says she has been “failed” by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, after doctors delayed diagnosing her recurrent breast cancer by six months in 2019/20, despite her repeatedly raising concerns about a growing lump with three consultants.
Emma Brewster (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
The trust apologised for the harm and distress caused but was unable to comment on the specifics of Emma’s case.
She said: "The smell was absolutely horrendous; I was in pain.
"I asked multiple times if I needed antibiotics and was told that I didn't need them.
"At my one-week review, I told a doctor and a nurse I was not happy as the flap had changed colour and was leaking pus.
“They said it was fine; I asked if I needed antibiotics, but they said no and sent me home.
"Four days later, it was black and the smell was horrendous. I was rushed into emergency surgery.
Emma Brewster from St Helen Auckland (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
"My recovery was very complex, and my son, who is serving in the armed forces, was sent home on compassionate leave to look after me for three months.
"The whole ordeal saw me fall out with my family. They were saying 'the doctors know best' when I was saying that something didn't feel right.”
She says she went in for breast reconstruction in June 2025 unaware the trust had begun a wider review of its scandal-hit breast cancer services, and wouldn’t have had the procedure if she’d known.
During a review meeting which The Northern Echo has seen notes from, the trust accepted partial liability for problems surrounding her reconstruction.
Emma was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and underwent a lumpectomy and radiotherapy.
In May 2019, she found another lump in the same breast and says she raised concerns with three consultants over nine months, including Dr Amir Bhatti, then lead of CDDFT’s breast cancer service.
Dr Amir Bhatti, then lead of CDDFT’s breast cancer service (Image: SUBMIT)
She says they repeatedly reassured her that the lump was scar tissue from her previous surgery.
Notes of a trust review earlier this year say her cancer recurrence should have been diagnosed by July 2019. An initial needle test was benign, but the review said Emma should also have had further tests, including a core biopsy.
It added that earlier diagnosis might not have changed her treatment but could have meant fewer lymph nodes were affected.
Emma added: “How was this allowed to happen? I was failed twice by the Trust, once initially and then a second time years later.
Emma Brewster, 42 (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
"I was told to 'trust the medical professionals' but knew something wasn't right.
"It was a bitter pill to swallow when the Trust told me they were partly liable because while it made everything valid that I knew, it also meant that I'd been harmed."
"There were a lot of people within the Trust at the time that knew this was going on," Emma added.
"In 2019, I knew something wasn't right, but my concerns were dismissed again and again."
In his most recent public apology, the trust boss, Steve Russell, said: "We remain deeply sorry for the harm and distress caused, and for the times when we should have listened more carefully and acted sooner.
"We cannot change what happened, but we can continue to listen, support those affected and do everything we can to get this next stage right.”
CDDFT plans to extend an independent external review of patient care back to 2015, potentially affecting about 4,500 patients.
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After reviewing care from 2023 to 2025, the Trust will extend the process year by year, starting with 2022 and working back to 2015.
Concerns about the service had been raised for years. The Care Quality Commission flagged delayed diagnoses and serious incidents in 2018, while an NHS programme found high mastectomy and re-excision rates in 2019.
A spokesperson for Dr Bhatti previously said that "serving the best interests of all our patients is of paramount importance" and when things go wrong ", we learn from this and make the necessary changes and improvements".