The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
‘Strange’ that women did not come forward: Hunt
Health secretary apologises for invitation error
Jeremy Hunt has said it seems “strange” that women who were expecting to have a breast cancer screening did not come forward when their invitations failed to arrive, as he apologised to families affected by the error.
The health secretary told the Commons that an estimated 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 were not invited to their final breast screening, which may have led to hundreds of lives being cut short.
He faced questions about the speed that women affected by the mistake will be contacted, and was asked by Labour’s Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) whether the alarm was raised by GPs wondering why their patients had not been invited to a screening.
Mr Hunt said: “I’m not aware of any such instances but that’s exactly what we want to look at in this review.
“It does seem strange that people didn’t come forward who were expecting to be invited and didn’t get an invitation and that didn’t set hares running, so that’s one of the things we need to look at.”
Mr Hunt, delivering a statement to the Commons, apologised “wholeheartedly and unreservedly for the suffering caused” on behalf of the Government, Public Health England and the NHS.
He told MPs that all those living in the UK who are registered with a GP would be contacted before the end of May, with the first 65,000 letters going out this week.
The letters will tell women under 72 they will automatically be sent an invitation to a catch-up screening, and those aged 72 and over will be given access to a helpline to decide whether a screening is appropriate for their particular situation.
Labour former minister Diana Johnson, who said many women and their families will be “very worried” by the statement, asked: “Why are the letters not going out this afternoon to all 309,000 (women)? Why are we having to wait until the end of May to put at rest these women and their families’ minds?”
Mr Hunt said letters were being sent “as quickly as we possibly can”, adding that work was ongoing to find if women had moved to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He said: “We thought it was important to come to the House as soon as possible to inform the House this was happening without any delay.”
The health secretary sought to reassure people living in Wales and Scotland, saying the error primarily affects those living in England.
Why are the letters not going out this afternoon to all 309,000 (women)?
DIANA JOHNSON