Two women have died from cervical cancer having been wrongly given the all-clear after an NHS smear test, sparking a major safety review.
Eight more have since been diagnosed with the disease, due to abnormalities on their smear tests being missed.
A further 11 women’s slides were found to have pre-cancerous changes in the cells when they were reviewed and had to receive treatment.
Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland has written to more than 17,000 patients in total, informing them their smear test results are being re-checked.
The Trust has apologised, admitting that failures went back some 13 years but went unchecked by managers.
But campaigner Stella McLoughlin said what had happened was ‘unforgivable’ and called for a public inquiry.
‘This has been an absolute scandal from start to finish and was allowed to go on for 10 years,’ she told the BBC.
‘Smears being misread, people not being held to account, screeners not being managed properly — all of this is affecting real people.’
Two women have died from cervical cancer having been wrongly given the all-clear after an NHS smear test, sparking a major safety review
The two women who died have been named as Lynsey Courtney and Erin Harbinson, although no other details have been made public so far.
The review involved re-checking cervical screening results of 17,425 women screened between 2008 and 2021.
The move was in response to an independent Royal College of Pathologists (RCPATH) report which found ‘persistent underperformance’ in the work of some screeners — lab technicians who interpret tests and give results.
Out of the four staff under review, one has been suspended, while conditions of practice have been placed on a second by regulatory body, the Health and Care Professions Council.
In an interview with BBC News NI, the Southern Trust said it acknowledged this was a difficult time for all of the families and the anxiety the process had caused.
Medical director Dr Steve Austin said the Trust had ‘learned lessons’ and ‘improvements have been made across the system’.
One of the women caught up in the scandal, named only as Susan, has revealed the devastation of being given a wrong smear test result.
She says that her ‘world fell apart’ when, at 42, she was told she had cancer and needed a hysterectomy.
Currently in the UK, women aged 25 to 49 are invited for cervical screening at their GP surgery every three years, but uptake has fallen over time.
Cervical cancer symptoms to look out for include unusual vaginal bleeding, pain during sex and lower back or pelvic pain
The operation triggered the menopause, which was ‘horrendous’ and ‘affected me physically, mentally and emotionally,’ she said.
While Susan was recovering she was contacted by the Trust and asked to come in for a case review.
What followed was ‘totally shocking and devastating’, she said.
‘They told me that, not only did they miss one smear test, they missed three over 10 years.’
She told the BBC: ‘You put your trust in the medical profession, the people that are supposed to analyse these smear tests. You put your trust in them and somebody didn’t do their job properly.’
Currently in the UK, women aged 25 to 49 are invited for cervical screening at their GP surgery every three years.
Those aged 50 to 64 can have one every five years.
Last month it was revealed that uptake in England has fallen to a record low, with a third of woman now shunning the check that can spot the earliest signs of cervical cancer.
NHS Digital data today revealed that only 68.7 per cent of women aged 25 to 64 in England came forward for cervical screening last year, marking a 10-year low.
It is the lowest figure logged in a decade and means around five million eligible women in England missed out on the check.
