About 10 deaths linked to NHS screening error as thousands go unchecked
People should have been invited for cancer screening but were accidentally missed.
About 10 people are thought to have died after a blunder meant they were not invited to NHS screening programmes, it has emerged.
And up to 10 people have been diagnosed with cancer which may have been picked up by screening.
About 5,200 people were not invited for routine screening, dating back to 2008, health officials said.
In a written ministerial statement, health minister Ashley Dalton said that the NHS has written to those people affected.
NHS England has also set up a helpline.
The error occurred when their GP registration process was “not completed correctly, meaning their details were not passed to NHS screening system”, Ms Dalton said.
“Records indicate that up to 10 patients have been diagnosed with a relevant cancer and were not invited for certain screening,” she said.
“The impact on these patients is not yet known and a clinical harm assessment process will be undertaken, based on expert clinical advice.
“It is with deep sadness that I must report that records also indicate that around 10 people who were not invited for screening may have died from a relevant cancer.”
The mistake first came to light in summer last year when people contacted the health service to say they had not been invited for screening.
NHS England launched an investigation which identified an issue with GP registration.
The issue affected the bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening programmes, as well as abdominal aortic aneurysm screening.
Ms Dalton said that the issue did not affect the diabetic eye screening programme, or any of the antenatal or newborn screening programmes.
She said the issue was identified and work has been ongoing to find those affected.
Ms Dalton told MPs that the problem occurred when patients registered at a new GP surgery and some information had not been completed during the process.
“Incomplete registrations were not passed to the NHS screening programme IT systems and, therefore, some people had not been invited to their routine screening,” she added.
Steve Russell, NHS England’s national director for vaccinations and screening, said: “The NHS is contacting 5,261 people who have not been invited for screening due to their GP registration not being fully completed.
“This issue has now been fixed and everyone affected will be offered support and any catch-up screening as soon as possible, including where they may now be above screening age.
“We would like to extend our sincere apologies to those affected for this error and any additional worry this may have caused – anyone who is concerned they may have missed an invitation to screening can call our dedicated helpline for support and further information.
“Around 15 million people are invited to NHS screening every year and it is important that everyone eligible can access these life-saving programmes.
“The NHS has issued guidance to GP practices and Integrated Care Boards to make sure all patient registrations are fully completed, and has put in place new measures to ensure all eligible people are invited for screening.”
Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy, said: “Bowel, breast and cervical screening programmes are in place to help diagnose cancer early or prevent it developing in people without symptoms, and everyone who’s eligible should be invited to take part.
“It’s unacceptable that some people haven’t received an invitation, and we welcome NHS England’s announcement that there will be a full review to understand how this happened.
“This news will be extremely worrying for anyone who’s eligible to take part in screening so, if you think you are eligible but haven’t been invited, you can check with your GP.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “As GPs, the health and wellbeing of our patients is our number one priority, so it’s distressing to hear that some people may have missed health interventions as a result of inadvertent administrative errors.
“GP practices take the management of their patient records very seriously but if mistakes happen, it’s important robust safeguards are in place to identify and rectify them, so that patients can continue to receive the care and services they need.
“Now that the issue has been identified, serious action must be taken to contact those who have been affected – and we have been reassured this has already started – and ensure that steps are taken so that something similar cannot happen again.
“National screening programmes, which are evidence-based and approved by Nice and the UK National Screening Committee, have potentially saved millions of lives so it’s important that these are accessible for all patients who are eligible.”
Claire Rowney, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said the news was “deeply concerning”, adding it was “vital that the Government and NHS England take swift action to address the underlying issues in the way GP records are used to identify people who are eligible for screening, to prevent this devastating failure from occurring again”.
