Screening blunder hits 8,000
MORE than 8,000 women across Greater Manchester have been deprived of breast cancer screening as a result of an NHS blunder.
Government bosses have now revealed that 8,325 women across the region were affected by the IT glitch.
The error is believed to have shortened the lives of around 75 women across England.
It has since been confirmed that 174,000 women across the country were affected by failures in the breast screening programme, since 2009. The error affects women aged between 68 and 71.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised ‘wholeheartedly and unreservedly’ on behalf of the government, Public Health England (PHE) and the NHS.
“Our cancer screening programme is widely recognised as world-leading, but on this occasion a number of women have been let down,” Mr Hunt wrote.
“It is now clear that this may have resulted in significant harm for a small number of women, while thousands more have faced unnecessary distress and anxiety as they waited to hear if they have been affected.
“I would like to repeat my wholehearted and unreserved apology to the women affected and their families – and above all reassure them that we are working hard to understand what went wrong and what we need to do to stop similar incidents from happening in the future.”
A dedicated helpline, established to support women with concerns, has so far received more than 46,000 calls.
The NHS has put in place an additional 68,000 screening appointments nationally and is working to make sure all women affected who want a screen will be seen by the end of October.
The fault, which has now been fixed, was spotted in January while PHE were reviewing the progress of the age extension trial AgeX.
An independent review of the NHS breast screening programme will look at processes, IT systems and possible improvements to the system with a report expected in six months.
But Eluned Hughes, head of Public Health and Information at Breast Cancer Now, said it is essential women are fully supported and given all the information they need to make an informed choice about whether to attend catchup screening. Call the helpline on 0800 169 2692.