A GP's been censured for not diagnosing breast cancer in a woman who later died

A Health and Disability Commission report shows the illness wasn't picked up in her first visit.

The woman in her 20s, visited her GP after bleeding from one nipple, but an ultrasound showed things were normal.

Former Commissioner Anthony Hill says her symptoms required she be referred to a surgeon.

A second ultrasound eight months later - when she was in pain with hard, swollen tissue - found cancer.

She died three years later.

Hill asked for evidence of more robust processes, recommended a random audit of patients - and that the doctor apologise to the family.