JUDITH Carless was just 39 years old when she died of bowel cancer in 1999 - but almost four years later, her parents remain unhappy about how her case was handled.

Although medical negligence has been excluded in her case, the tumour causing her constipation and abdominal pain went undetected for more than four months, during which the Newport mum became so ill she had to crawl upstairs to bed.

It was eventually discovered on New Year's Eve 1998, during what should have been a routine abdominal operation. By then it had perforated and she had problems in her left leg.

Her father, Thomas Carless, said: "She was backwards and forwards to the Royal Gwent Hospital.

"Her pain got worse, but they kept saying it was constipation and once, someone said to her 'don't you know what period pains are?'"

His daughter had been in hospital five times since early September 1998, three times as an emergency.

Doctors had been unable to discover the cause of her pain and she had been having treatment for constipation.

After cancer was diagnosed, Ms Carless was given chemotherapy treatment, but the disease had spread and she died in September 1999. Experts agreed that even an earlier diagnosis of her cancer would have been unlikely to prevent her death.

But one - a consultant with almost 30 years' experience in gastro-intestinal disorders, including cancer - said in his opinion for the family's legal team that "the management of this case leaves much to be desired".

A case for clinical negligence could not be sustained, however.

But Ms Carless' parents sought an apology and an ex gratia payment from Gwent Healthcare Trust in acknowledgement of alleged shortcomings in their daughter's treatment.

After a delay of several months, the trust turned down the request.

It says it is bound by the legal advice it sought, which states there is no case for making such a payment.

The whole experience has left Mr and Mrs Carless, of Anson Green, Ringland, Newport - who have been left to bring up their granddaughter - angry and deeply distrustful of hospitals.

Mr Carless' wife Theresa said the family will never get over the pain and distress, adding that the experience has hit their granddaughter "really, really hard".

"It was obvious there was something really seriously wrong with Judith," she said.

"Sometimes she was so ill she had to crawl up the stairs and she needed help to dress and wash. But the hospital kept sending her home."