‘Shell-shocked’ women and families caught up in breast screening failure demand answers

Scandal: women and families caught up in breast screening failure have demanded answers
PA
Chloe Chaplain3 May 2018

Women and their families caught up in the breast screening failure have demanded answers as to how hundreds of patients may have had their lives cut short.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has launched an independent review after he revealed a computer error dating back to 2009 meant many women aged 68 to 71 in England were not invited to their final routine screening.

He admitted 450,000 women could be affected, and that between 135 and 270 women could have had their lives shortened as a result.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said it was a "colossal systemic failure".

Widower Brian Gough said his wife Trixie never received a letter inviting her to go for a screening in 2009 - and that a scan in October 2010 revealed she had stage-three breast cancer.

The 77-year-old from Norfolk told the Press Association he was watching the television on Wednesday when the news of the screening error broke, leaving him "shell shocked".

Upset: Brian Gough and his wife Trixie Gough, 76, from Norfolk, who died three days after Christmas in 2015 from breast cancer
PA

"There has always got to be some blame these things don't just happen ... it is never the computer that goes wrong it is the person that put the information in or took it out," he said.

On Wednesday Mr Hunt said "administrative incompetence" meant some families may have lost, or may be about to lose, a loved one to cancer.

Apology: Jeremy Hunt addresses MPs
Parliament TV

Women in England between the ages of 50 and 70 are currently automatically invited for breast cancer screening every three years.

The issue was first brought to the attention of the Department of Health and Social Care in January, but was initially thought to pose a "limited" risk to patients.

It was escalated to ministers in March by PHE following an urgent clinical review, with the Government told the error should not be made public to ensure existing screening services were not overwhelmed.

Despite his shock, Mr Gough said he admired the Health Secretary for "getting up and not trying to hide the truth".

Scandal: Trixie's grieving husband has described his shock at realising his wife is possibly among those whose lives were cut short due to a breast cancer screening error
PA

He said his wife of 56 years died three days after Christmas in 2015, and that the 76-year-old never once complained during her cancer ordeal.

Mr Gough said she missed the wedding of her grandson as she was too ill to attend, and died just before her granddaughter's nuptials.

"All of that she missed because she didn't get diagnosed and she didn't know anything about it until a year too late," he said.

Trixie with her family during her treatment
PA

Baroness Morgan said Breast Cancer Now welcomed the inquiry to ensure similar mistakes cannot be made.

She said: "It is beyond belief that this major mistake has been sustained for almost a decade and we need to know why this has been allowed to happen.”

Patricia Minchin, 75, said she was not offered a screening in 2013 when she turned 70, and is battling breast cancer, which has also spread to other parts of her body.

The grandmother and mother-of-four from Bushey, Hertfordshire told the Telegraph: "I feel so disappointed. I don't know if I'm going to survive. I would like an explanation from somebody why this happened, why I didn't get a recall.

"I feel absolutely let down. I worked for the National Health Service all my life, I was a nurse."

Of those who missed invitations, 309,000 are estimated to still be alive and all those living in the UK who are registered with a GP will be contacted before the end of May.

All women who were not sent an invitation for their final screening will be given the opportunity to have a new appointment.

Those under the age of 72 will receive an appointment letter informing them of the time and date, while those over 72 will also be offered a screening and have access to a helpline to decide if it will be beneficial.

The helpline for those who think they may be affected is 0800 169 2692.

Reporting by Press Association.

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