Women hit by breast screening blunder

The screening service is being reviewed

A breast screening programme has been suspended after it was discovered 11 women had been wrongly given the all-clear.

An investigation revealed a series of lost x-rays and administrative mistakes.

The errors at the West of London Screening Service, run by Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, came to light after over 104,000 cases, dating back to 1993 were reviewed.

It was found one woman's treatment was delayed for almost two years because of the blunder.

Others had to endure delays of several months.

Of the 11 given the all-clear, six had found signs of breast cancer and were being treated by the time the results emerged.

The other five are being offered "whatever they need to manage their treatment" including radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

We deeply regret the considerable distress caused to these women

John Cooper,
Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

The review was carried out by independent auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers after it was discovered a woman had been sent the wrong letter after a routine check.

A number of films were also found to be missing from files during the checks.

The 77 women concerned have been invited in for a new mammogram, a spokesman said.

Half have been contacted. Others may have moved, but the trust said it would ensure they were traced.

All women whose cases were reviewed have been traced by the trust.

The standards watchdog, the Commission for Health Improvement, has been asked to investigate the service, by Hammersmith Hospitals.

Service suspended

Professor Rory Shaw, medical director of the trust and the head of the new National Patient Safety Agency told the BBC: "I take this extremely seriously. Out of 104,000 women screened, tragically we've identified 11 who were given the wrong opinion."

A spokeswoman added: "All the women who may be affected have now been contacted, or are already receiving treatment."

The trust said the service had been put on hold to allow new staff to be trained and to ensure that the new procedures are established.

It will also allow staff to catch up on a backlog of work caused by an increasing amount of work and staff vacancies, they added.

The trust said the service would only be restarted when it was satisfied all the problems had been addressed.

In a statement on the case which raised concerns, the service said: "This woman should have been recalled for further assessment, but due to an administrative mistake was sent a letter saying nothing abnormal had been seen.

"On further investigation this woman did not have breast disease.

"During the review it was discovered that 11 women who had similarly been sent the wrong letter went on to develop cancer."

John Cooper, chief executive at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The effect of this error was that the women's treatment may have been delayed, in some cases by a few weeks and in others months. The longest delay was 21 months.

"We deeply regret the considerable distress caused to these women and we have tried to do everything we can to ensure they receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible."

But the trust stressed women who are concerned about changes to their breast should go to her GP, who would be able to refer her to a local breast unit.

The screening unit invites 40,000 women a year for scans and carries out around 26,000.