BREAST CANCER BLUNDER KILLS 270
Hunt admits 450,000 women were denied life-saving scans in ‘colossal failure’
UP to 270 women may have died after an IT glitch denied them breast cancer tests.
Jeremy Hunt admitted the blunder, going back to 2009, meant 450,000 patients were not called for routine screening that could have saved lives.
NHS chiefs raised the problem last year, but it was only revealed yesterday. Breast Cancer Now said: “This is a colossal failure.”
CANCER charities last night demanded to know how an IT blunder which may have caused deaths was not spotted for nearly a decade.
And it was revealed the glitch was flagged up by NHS chiefs from at least three trusts last year – but only made public yesterday by Jeremy Hunt.
The Health Secretary apologised for the scandal and told the Commons up to 270 women may have died because of the major error which meant 450,000 breast cancer patients were not invited for screening.
A Whitehall source said an IT “upgrade” to the system in 2016 revealed a “computer algorithm failure” subsequently found to date back to 2009.
Breast Cancer Care chief executive Samia al Qadhi said: “Hundreds of thousands of women have been failed by this appalling error and some have had their lives shortened as a result.
“It is shocking that almost a decade has passed before this mistake was discovered.
“Women affected and their loved ones will be left reeling, scared and confused. The
On behalf of the Government and PHE I apologise wholeheartedly for
the suffering JEREMY HUNT ON THE DANGEROUS MISTAKE
priority now must be to ensure that they get all the support and information they need.
“This incompetence must not be allowed to happen again.”
Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan branded the blunder “a colossal systematic failure”.
She added: “That hundreds of thousands of women have not received screening invitations they’ve been relying upon, at a time when they may be most at risk of breast cancer, is totally unacceptable.
“For those women who will have gone on to develop breast cancers that could have been picked up earlier, this is a devastating error.
“It is beyond belief that this major mistake has been sustained for almost a decade and we need to know why.”
Macmillan Cancer Support chief executive Lynda Thomas said: “It’s deeply shocking so many women have been missed from breast cancer screening over a number of years.
“This will undoubtedly create a great deal of concern and anxiety for the women affected.
“The priority must be for women who have been missed from screening programmes to immediately get support and if appropriate treatment.
“It’s absolutely critical we understand what happened and make sure this never happens to another person again.”
It is not known whether any delay in diagnosis of women resulted in avoidable deaths.
But Mr Hunt said computer modelling suggested between 135 and 270 women may have had their “lives shortened”.
He launched an independent review into Public Health England’s national breast screening invitation system.
The Mirror has learned that while PHE received reports in 2017 raising concerns about missed invitations, the issue was only brought to the attention of the Department of Health and Social Care in January.
But Mr Hunt still waited four months to tell the public.
Of the 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 not invited for screening, around 150,000 have died, many of other
illnesses. But Mr Hunt said 309,000 women affected were still alive and in their 70s.
He added: “For them it is incredibly upsetting to know you did not receive an invitation for screening at the correct time and devastating to hear you may have lost or be about to lose a loved one because of administrative incompetence.
“So on behalf of the Government, Public Health England and the NHS, I apologise wholeheartedly and unreservedly for the suffering.
“Earlier this year PHE analysis of trial data from the service found a computer algorithm failure dating back to 2009.
“The latest estimates I have received from PHE is that as a result of this, between 2009 and the start of 2018 an estimated 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 were not invited to their final breast screening. At this stage it is not clear whether any delay in diagnosis resulted in any avoidable harm or death and that is one of the reasons I am ordering an independent review to establish the clinical impact.
“I am advised that it is unlikely to be more than this range and may be considerably less.
“However, tragically there are likely to be some people who would have been alive today if the failure had not happened.
“Irrespective of when the incident started, the fact is that for many years oversight of our screening programme has not been good enough.
“Many families will be deeply disturbed by these revelations, not least because there will be some people who receive a letter having had a recent diagnosis of breast cancer. We must also recognise that there may be some who receive a letter having had a recent terminal diagnosis.”
The review, expected to report in six months, will be chaired by Ms Thomas and leading oncologist Professor Martin Gore.
All women affected will now be contacted by letter by the end of May. Those under 75 will be offered a routine catch-up mammogram, within six months. A helpline was also set up for women aged over 72 to talk them through the pros and cons of screening.
Baroness Morgan said: “It is right that Public Health England are offering the option of catch-up screening for those affected, and we hope that women will choose to take this up.” The NHS screens all women between the ages of 50 and 70 for breast cancer every three years. They normally get a letter from their GP about the test which aims to catch the disease early, when it is easier to treat with better survival rates. According to Cancer Research UK, there were 11,563 breast tumour deaths in 2016.
One in eight women and one in 870 men will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime. About 55,000 people are diagnosed each year with the disease.
Have you been affected by the NHS breast cancer bungle? Contact the Daily Mirror at mirrornews@mirror.co.uk.
It is beyond belief that this major mistake has been sustained for nearly a decade BARONESS DELYTH BREAST CANCER NOW CHIEF EXECUTIVE YESTERDAY