- Health officials have written to each woman and offered an urgent scan
- *** Have YOU been affected by the NHS breast cancer blunder? Email Emily Stearn at [email protected] ***
Nearly 1,500 women at ‘very high risk’ of breast cancer have missed potentially life-saving annual check-ups because of a blunder.
NHS bosses have written to every woman affected, apologising for the error which dates back 20 years.
An urgent catch-up programme is offering all 1,487 women a scan in the next three months.
Officials have written to each woman affected, apologising for the error and offering an urgent scan. The error meant women who received radiotherapy treatment above the waist for Hodgkin lymphoma between 1962 and 2003 were not contacted to attend annual screening check ups for breast cancer
The error only applies to women who received radiotherapy treatment above the waist for Hodgkin lymphoma between 1962 and 2003.
As a result of the treatment, they face a heightened risk of getting breast cancer, a disease that strikes around 55,000 British women each year.
Guidance issued two decades ago by the chief medical officer ruled that women in this category should get annual MRI checks as part of a scheme to spot the disease earliest, when survival rates are highest.
NHS bosses were informed last year that some women were never invited, however.
Follow-up investigations found roughly a third of women covered by the ruling were not given the yearly scans.
The NHS has insisted it has been transparent about the issue and sought to reassure women that they would all be ‘urgently’ offered a catch-up scan within the next three months.
Health authorities have also identified a ‘much smaller historic group’, whose details are currently being verified and they will be written to in the coming weeks.
Women who’ve undergone radiotherapy above the waist for Hodgkin lymphoma do not start annual MRI testing immediately following treatment.
Doctors say the heightened risk of breast cancer doesn’t emerge until approximately a decade later.
But in 2003, clinicians were asked to contact both previous and current patients to refer them for annual checks. This was not done.
Officials said details of the 1,487 women who missed out were shared with NHS England in late September 2023, who identified the women affected.
Ministers were notified of the blunder last month.
Steve Russell, NHS national director for vaccinations and screening, said: ‘The NHS is contacting 1,487 women at increased risk of breast cancer due to having radiotherapy involving their chest for Hodgkin lymphoma, who may not yet have been offered additional annual screening.
‘While most of these women are already enrolled in the NHS Breast Screening Programme for regular mammograms, all women affected will now be offered support and invited for an annual MRI, and in most cases an annual mammogram, as soon as possible – the NHS will aim to complete this within three months.
‘We would like to extend our sincere apologies to those affected for any additional worry this may have caused.
‘Anyone who has had prior radiotherapy to their chest for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma and who is concerned they have not been invited for an annual MRI can call our dedicated helpline for support and further information.’
NHS England has set up a helpline for affected women, the details of which will be included in letters sent to them.
It will also undertake a review of the process that refers these women into the most appropriate service for their risk to mitigate any future impact of this issue.
