MP asks for assurance over breast cancer screening

SOUTH Leicestershire MP, Alberto Costa, has asked the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt. Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, for assurances that Members of Parliament will be informed of the number of their constituents affected by the recently announced errors; that have resulted in many women not being informed of a final breast cancer scan.

The Secretary of State recently gave an urgent statement to the House of Commons in which he announced, due to an IT error, that as many as 450,000 women aged 68-71 had failed to receive invitations to a final routine breast cancer screening.

Speaking in the House of Commons recently Mr Costa asked the Secretary of State if he could ‘assure members that his team at the department will write to Members of Parliament indicating the numbers of [affected] constituents in each constituency, so that Members of Parliament can prepare for the inevitable contact that constituents will make with us’.

After the debate, Mr Costa added, “Of course the safety and wellbeing of my constituents and others affected by these errors are of paramount importance, and so I was very pleased to seek these assurances from the Secretary of State so that my office can be informed as to the scale of the issues affecting South Leicestershire and other constituencies.

“I was encouraged by the Minister’s response, which I hope will enable other MPs and their offices to properly prepare for correspondence from their constituents affected by this dreadful error. As ever, my office is always open and ready to assist constituents, and I am especially pleased that my office will be much better prepared to do so as a result of the Minister’s assurances”.