Breast screening error may have shortened up to 270 lives

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that 450,000 women in their late 60s and early 70s had not received invitations for breast screening since 2009, due to an IT error.

He apologised ‘wholeheartedly’ to the women and their families, and has announced an independent review into the oversight.

Of the 450,000 women that have been affected, 309,000 are still alive now into their 70s.

Mr Hunt, while speaking in the Commons, said “For them and others it is incredibly upsetting to know that you did not receive an invitation for screening at the correct time and totally devastating to hear you may have lost or be about to lose a loved one because of administrative incompetence.”

The Royal College of GPs have welcomed the review and counselled affected women not to panic.

Chair of the RCGP, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, said “The priority should not be to establish blame, but to put measures in place to invite those women affected for screening, where appropriate; to ensure there are enough resources in the system to cope with any additional demand that might follow as a result; and to take steps to ensure this never happens again.”

Cancer Research UK’s Emma Greenwood, said the news was “very concerning”.

She went on to say “It’s worth remembering that many breast cancers are still found by women themselves, outside of the screening programme, so if you notice any unusual changes in your breast see your GP straight away.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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