Blunder sees 1,800 women miss breast cancer checks
●Apology after computer glitch meant invitations to screenings were not sent
Health secretary Jeane Freeman has apologised to almost 1,800 women in Scotland who missed out on screening appointments for breast cancer.
Cancer charities warned the blunder, which will result in a three-year delay for cancer testing for some of the affected women, could prove to be a “devastating error”.
The problem, which saw 1,761 women miss their final screening appointment, was identified after a review of the Scottish Breast Screening programme.
A glitch in the computer programme that sends out letters informing women of their appointments meant those affected were accidentally ignored.
Last night the Scottish Government admitted there may have been a “small number of women” who died during the period under review, but their deaths would have been due to a variety of causes. Women in Scotland
are invited to come forward for screening at regular intervals between the ages of 50 and 71.
However, delays in the programme meant the women affected were not invited for their final appointment by the age of 71. When they reach the age of 71, women automatically fall off the system. The computer delay meant patients were being automatically removed before the system could catch up.
The Scottish Government has already pledged tests will be carried out as quickly as possible and this should not impact on the existing breast screening programme.
Additional NHS staff are meanwhile being put in place in a bid to provide reassurance to those affected.
Ms Freeman said: “I know this will be a worrying time for the women affected and I apologise fully for any distress caused.
“The women are being contacted as a priority and resources have been put in place to ensure they are screened promptly and offered any wider support needed.
“This additional screening will not delay other women attending their routine appointments.”
She continued: “This issue came to light following a due diligence review of the breast screening system in Scotland, which was undertaken after a significant incident with England’s breast screening programme earlier this year.
“I have been clear that we must learn from this and act to minimise the risk of similar incidents in future.”
The mistake was uncovered in Scotland after checks were ordered following the announcement by Public Health England in May that 450,000 women had not been invited to final screenings since 2009. The-then UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt said up to 270 women in England may have had their lives shortened due to the failures. The 1,761 figure in Scotland only relates to women who are
still alive. When the English problem was detected, thethen Scottish health secretary Shona Robison told Holyrood that patients should be “reassured that there are no problems with our breast screening programme records or information technology systems”.
Last night Scottish Labour’s public health spokesperson David Stewart said: “I was in parliament in May when the-then SNP health secretary Shona Robison said that there was no issue in Scotland’s breast cancer screening programme. We now know that was not the case and that almost 1,800 women have been badly and potentially fatally let down.
“If the government can be wrong on an issue as crucial as this, then many members of the public will rightly wonder if there are additional diagnostic screening failures in the NHS.
“SNP health secretary Jeane Freeman must now quickly establish why this failure occurred and how many women have been subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer after missing their screening.”
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “We are extremely concerned to hear that over a thousand women in Scotland have been let down by an error in the breast screening programme in Scotland, just months after a decade-long failure came to light in England. It is completely unacceptable that so many women have not received the screening invitations they need at a time when they may be most at risk of breast cancer. Screening prevents deaths from breast cancer. The earlier the disease is detected, the more likely treatment is to be successful. For any women that may have gone on to develop breast cancers that could have been picked up earlier through screening, this could be a devastating error.”
Janice Preston, head of services for Macmillan Cancer Support in Scotland, said: “The absolute priority must be for women who have missed their final screening appointment to immediately get support and if appropriate treatment. Macmillan will help in any way we can to ensure people get support through this worrying time through our support line and online support services.”
Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman Annie Wells said women would be “extremely concerned that they have been overlooked”.
Lib Dems health spokesman Alex Cole-hamilton described it as a “horrifying lapse of process”.