Health chief says sorry at last for breast scan catastrophe

THE health chief at the centre of the breast screening scandal yesterday issued a ‘ heartfelt and unreserved’ apology.

It was revealed this week that an IT error meant 450,000 women were not invited to crucial mammograms – and as many as 270 are feared to have died.

Duncan Selbie, the £180,000-a-year chief executive of Public Health England, had remained silent for two days over his involvement.

Instead, he had allowed his deputy medical director, Dr Jenny Harries, to take to the airwaves and explain what had gone wrong.

But yesterday – as part of a weekly email to staff – he acknowledged that the situation was ‘extremely distressing for many’, writing: ‘On behalf of PHE and NHS breast screening services, our apology is heartfelt and unreserved.

‘PHE and the NHS are working round-the-clock to offer advice and ensure that every person affected will be offered appropriate followup. Arrangements have been put in place to ensure those affected can access services appropriately, and that those already in the system will not have their care disrupted.

Mr Selbie, 55, is still yet to apologise in public for the fact that his organisation failed to pick up on the error. It is thought to have been caused by a computer glitch.

Although PHE only came into existence in 2013, questions are being asked about why it failed to spot the problems earlier. It has direct responsibility for the running of the breast cancer screening programme.

The organisation has admitted it was warned of errors back in 2017 – by hospitals in London and the Midlands – but did not investigate.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has blamed the error on ‘administrative incompetence’ and has ordered a review to establish what went wrong.