The words don't really sound alike. And yet, officials plead simple error. As reported by the British daily The Sun this Thursday, a medical practice in the north of England gave hundreds of patients a big scare by sending a message announcing “Diagnosis: aggressive lung cancer with metastases” instead of… Christmas greetings. At 3:49 p.m. on December 23, patients at this health center in Askern, near the town of Doncaster, received a text message on their phones informing them of this diagnosis, asking them to fill in the relevant forms and concluding: “Thank you” . At 4:11 p.m., another message followed offering a “sincere apology”: “This was sent to you in error. Our message should have been: we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”. Contacted by AFP, the medical office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Complicated relations with medical practices The blunder was not to the liking of patients. "Another huge mistake by lame doctors," commented one of them on the firm's Facebook group, for example. Another ensuring that “everyone in Askern” had received the message. According to The Sun, among the recipients of the message was a 57-year-old father who was awaiting test results to determine if he had lung cancer. Chris Reed told the tabloid that he tried to call the firm, but was unsuccessful because the line was busy. He went there and was told that the analyzes were negative. The incident comes as relations are often tense between the British and their "GPs", these health centers in the public system where they are supposed to be able to be monitored and treated for free but which are overwhelmed after years of austerity.