DOCTORS failed to spot cervical cancer in a woman, despite her suffering symptoms for more than five months.

Jemma Irwin, of Stromness Road, Southend, was repeatedly turned away from Southend Hospital, which said she was just having a “bad period”.

Jemma, 36, visited the emergency department at least four times, when hospital tests revealed her haemoglobin counts had dropped to about half the normal level.

However, she was turned away on each occasion and eventually stopped going because she felt she would be wasting her time.

Since being diagnosed, Jemma has undergone four months of intensive radiotherapy and has been told she won’t be able to bear a child.

Jemma said: “I’m absolutely disgusted with the way I was treated.

“Everyone makes mistakes, but to just dismiss me time and time again wasn’t right.

“It was their attitude which annoyed me most. They didn’t even try.

“I feel let down. You expect people to do their best to look after you, but that didn’t happen for me.”

Jemma was first sent to the hospital in July last year, after waking up to find she was losing blood rapidly.

Doctors told her it was a normal period and sent her home, but the bleeding persisted so she returned again a few days later.

She was sent away again and this time sought the help of her GP, who gave her some tablets to stop the bleeding.

He told her to go back to A&E if it happened again, but when she did in November, this time doctors diagnosed a water infection and gave her some antibiotics.

Barely a month later, Jemma woke with an excruciating pain in her pelvis and heavy bleeding.

She was taken back to hospital, where doctors performed a laparoscopy.

They discovered she had cervical cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes.

The cancer was so advanced doctors could not operate on it, so Jemma underwent radiotherapy.

She will find out at the end of this month whether the treatment has been successful.

Jemma has now written to the hospital expressing her concerns.

A hospital spokeswoman said: “We are very sorry to hear Ms Irwin is not happy with the service provided by our A&E department.

“We have just received her letter and will respond to her directly once we have completed our investigations.”