MP urges Government to 'take stock' over breast screening

Oldham West and Royton MP JIm McMahon

Last week the Government’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care published a written statement on the breast screening error last month which revealed that a substantial number of women aged 68-71 have not been sent their invitation to their final breast screening appointment.

It has now emerged that a total of 268 Oldham West and Royton women were affected – according to figures provided by the Secretary of State – and constituency MP Jim McMahon has now urged the Government to ‘take stock’ when considering potential further NHS cuts.

Mr McMahon said: “It is positive to hear that number of women affected is not as large as first feared, but it is still not good enough that single life should be shortened because of these errors.

“The Government must take stock of what has happened and determine the extent to which NHS cuts will impact on cancer screening now and in the future.

“The reality is the same all across the health and social care sectors: if we don’t invest, then people will slip through the net”.

The Department for Health and Social Care have announced that all women affected by the screening error have been contacted and offered a follow-up appointment.

The number of women affected has been revised down from 450,000 to around 174,000, but it is estimated that up to 75 lives were still shortened as a result of this error.

While it is good that fewer women were affected than anticipated, thousands of women will have been worried about this error

The Terms of Reference for the Independent Review have been published and include investigations into the cause, scope, and reporting of the error. It will report in November.

Meanwhile, research charity Breast Cancer Now continues to call on the Secretary of State to keep his promise to expand the capacity of the screening programme and commit to employing at least the 215 mammographers and 54 radiologists needed.