Breast cancer screening: 450,000 women missed out on checkup invitations due to IT error, Jeremy Hunt admits

Up to 270 women may have died prematurely and ‘would still be alive today’ if failure had not happened, says health secretary

Nearly half a million women missed out on NHS cancer screening because of an IT error, the government has admitted – adding that hundreds may have died as a result.

Jeremy Hunt, the health and social care secretary, has apologised for the glitch which meant 450,000 women were never sent letters inviting them to routine breast cancer checkups.

He admitted up to 270 of those affected could have died prematurely as a result of the error and officials told The Independent there may be more women whose cancer was caught at a later, and less treatable, stage.

The government announced an independent inquiry into the full extent of what charities have called an “appalling error”, and said it would begin the “distressing” process of contacting families to establish whether they are owed compensation.

NHS breast cancer screening

 

What is it?

Women age 50 to 70 are invited for an x-ray mammogram every three years to detect any lumps or abnormalities that could be or become breast cancer.

How many women are screened?

Around 2.5 million women are invited to breast screening each year. In 2016/17 just 70 per cent took up screening - a record low - and 18,400 cancers were picked up

What is the evidence for it?

The benefits of national breast screening are contested, particularly in older women. While early diagnosis helps maximise chances of survival, critics say large numbers of women are subjected to harm from x-rays, biopsies and preventative mastectomies for lumps that may never become cancer.

A technical issue dating back to 2009 and only caught in 2018 was responsible for some women in England missing out on the last of their regular invitations for screening.

In a statement today, Mr Hunt announced the “best estimate” is that between 135 and 270 women “had their lives shortened as a result”.

“I am advised that it is unlikely to be more than this range, and may be considerably less,” he added.

“Tragically there are likely to be some people in this group who would be alive today had this failure not happened.”

These numbers are based on statistical estimates of the rates of cancers caught for every woman screened, however the independent review will establish exactly how many women were affected by reviewing case notes.

It will also try to determine how the issues went unnoticed for the best part of a decade.

The NHS currently screens women between the ages of 50 and 70 for breast cancer every three years, but only women aged between 68 and 71 were affected by this issue.

The glitch first came to light in January after an upgrade to the national screening IT system found women enrolled in a long-running study, the AgeX trial, led by Oxford University, were not receiving their final screening invitation around age 70.

This led to a wider review which found the problem and other issues were replicated across England.

Of the affected group, 309,000 women are believed to still be alive and will receive a letter by the end of May telling them they may have missed screening and inviting them for a checkup now.

Mr Hunt admitted that among the women contacted there are likely to be people who have recently had a terminal cancer diagnosis and “apologised wholeheartedly” on behalf of the government, NHS England and Public Health England for the failure.

“In addition, and as soon as possible we will make our best endeavours to contact the next of kin of those we believe have missed a scan and subsequently died of breast cancer,” the health secretary added.

“As well as apologising to families affected, we wish to offer any further advice they might find helpful including a process to establish whether a missed scan was a likely cause of death and compensation is therefore payable.

“We recognise this will be incredibly distressing for some families.”

Public Health England said it is not possible to estimate how many women in this group may have cancer that was picked up late, or is currently undiagnosed, until these catchup screenings are complete.

Across England, PHE invites 2.5 million women, aged 50 to 70, to breast cancer screening each year, around 70 per cent attended in 2016-17 and 18,400 cancers were picked up.

The AgeX trial is being conducted to determine the usefulness of screening women younger than 50 and older women, up to the age of 73, as its benefits are currently disputed.

In this group, doctors argue, screening catches many benign tumours that may never cause issues and exposes women to harmful surgery and radiation.

Charities said the “incompetence” of allowing failures to go unnoticed must never be repeated.

“Hundreds of thousands of women across England have been failed by this appalling error and some have had their lives shortened as a result,” said Samia al Qadhi, chief executive of Breast Cancer Care.

“It is shocking that almost a decade has passed before this mistake was discovered. Women affected and their loved ones will be left reeling, both scared and confused. The number one priority now must be to ensure that they get all the support and information they need.

“This incompetence must not be allowed to happen again.”

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said national breast cancer screening had saved thousands of lives.

“We are shocked to learn that hundreds of thousands of women in England have missed out on their opportunity for breast screening – and the implications for GPs and our teams will potentially be significant, as patients seek reassurance and to find out where they go from here.

“We welcome the independent inquiry into this matter, announced today, but the priority should not be to establish blame, but to put measures in place to invite those women affected for screening, where appropriate; to ensure there are enough resources in the system to cope with any additional demand that might follow as a result; and to take steps to ensure this never happens again.”