A GP surgery has blamed "human fallibility" after a patient was wrongly told she did not have cancer.

Kathryn Neal, 56, was incorrectly informed tests showed she did not have a form of skin cancer on her scalp five weeks after a biopsy at North Petherton Surgery.

Her relief at being 'free' from basal cell carcinoma turned to despair when four months later when the surgery called with the shattering news there had been a mistake.

In letters seen by the County Gazette, the practice manager has apologised for the error.

But the original diagnosis has invalidated the £148-a-month medical insurance Mrs Neal and her husband Kevin, of Creech Heathfield, took out before they learned she had cancer.

Axa Health will not pay for private treatment for the "pre-existing condition", even though they acknowledge former air hostess and current dog walker Mrs Neal was unaware she had cancer when the policy was taken out.

Former police officer Mr Neal said: "Kathryn's obviously devastated and worried. It's affecting both of us quite badly.

"Our insurance would have allowed Kathryn to be treated rapidly. Now it could be another six or seven months to get treated on the NHS.

"We don't want to take legal action, but the surgery has got to put this right. We just want her to have the surgery now.

"We've been paying a lot of money every month for medical insurance, but we're not covered because they say Kathryn had a pre-existing condition she did not inform the company of. That's because she was unaware of it because of the surgery's error.

"The surgery has admitted they're to blame but they refuse to pay for Kathryn to have private treatment.

"It's as if they're sticking two fingers up at us and hoping everything will go away."

In letters to the couple after they contacted North Petherton Surgery a number of times, practice manager Dee Campbell apologised for the error leading to delays in Mrs Neal's treatment.

Ms Campbell wrote: "We have reviewed how this error occurred and unfortunately conclude that it was due to human fallibility given capacity at the surgery at the time of the incident."

She added that additional staff have been recruited and she is confident the mistake will not be repeated.

"We regret that this error occurred and again apologise for the subsequent issue this has created," said Ms Campbell.

She said the NHS is "unable to pay for or subsidise private treatment".

Contacted by the County Gazette, Ms Campbell said: "We are unable to comment on individual cases. However we would always encourage patients to raise any concerns with the practice directly so we can investigate fully."