Up to 270 women had lives cut short by error
Hunt sorry for breast cancer screening glitch
SCORES OF lives could have been cut short after 450,000 women were not invited to have breast cancer screening due to an NHS computer error.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised to people affected by an IT glitch dating back to 2009 which meant women aged 68 to 71 in England were not called to their final routine screening.
It means the families of people who died of breast cancer may find there was a missed opportunity to diagnose the illness.
It is estimated that between 135 and 270 women had their lives shortened as a result. An independent review has been launched into the failure of the programme, run by Public Health England (PHE).
Mr Hunt said “administrative incompetence” meant some families may have lost, or be about to lose, a loved one to cancer.
He said: “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.”
Mr Hunt said he was told it was “unlikely” that the number of lives shortened was higher than the estimate of up to 270.
He added: “However, tragically there are likely to be some people in this group who would have been alive today if the failure had not happened.”
The issue was first brought to the attention of the Department of Health and Social Care in January. Ministers were informed in March with the Government told it should not be made public to avoid existing screening services being overwhelmed.
Of the women who missed invitations, 309,000 are estimated to still be alive. Those living in the UK who are registered with a GP will be contacted before the end of May. Those aged under 72 will receive an appointment letter, while those over 72 will be offered screening and have access to a helpline. Mr Hunt said: “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.”
Mr Hunt faced questions over the speed at which affected women will be contacted, and whether the alarm was raised by GPs wondering why patients had not been screened. Labour’s Hull North MP Diana Johnson said: “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 out “as quickly as we possibly can”. Work was ongoing to find if women had moved to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Asked about whether the problem affected other screening programmes, Mr Hunt said: “The advice I’ve received is this does not read across to other screening programmes but that’s obviously something the independent review will look at as it seeks to examine all aspects of this.”
FIRST WINDRUSH. Now a nationwide breast screening scandal after it emerged that an estimated 450,000 women were not invited for a final test after a NHS computer error – and that this systemic failure could have foreshortened the lives of up to 270 individuals.
Though the threatened deportation of Windrush generation families who moved here quite legitimately after the war could not be further removed from the trauma being suffered by all those now caught up in the breast screening crisis, both point to procedural failures.
And while both issues precede 2010, both serve to highlight a growing culture of institutional indifference – namely Whitehall, and public agencies, being too slow to respond when policy-making, or IT systems in the case of the NHS, goes awry, as well as a lack of empathy towards those on the receiving end.
As such, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt should be praised for the tone of his sensitive statement to Parliament and the steps being taken to offer the women concerned new screenings at the earliest opportunity – early diagnosis is critical in the fight against cancer.
His official inquiry – why did the screening scandal take so long to come to light? – suggests that the Government has learned from Windrush. It came minutes after Theresa May said that the review being set up into this immigration controversy will have “full access” to all paperwork, including the period when she ran the Home Office.
Total transparency is imperative to restoring confidence in the Government and its work. Lessons need learning and greater humility, and humanity, must be shown towards the public – some very senior officials appear to have forgotten that they are supposed to serve.
However Mrs May will have to lead by example if this culture is to change. If not, Brexit – and this week’s local elections – will be the least of her difficulties.