Breast cancer fears among nearly 1,500 women at ‘very high risk’ of the disease after NHS blunder left them uninvited for annual checks
- Health officials have written to each woman and offered an urgent scan
- *** To have YOU hit by the NHS’s breast cancer blunder? Email Emily Stearn at Emily.Stearn@mailonline.co.uk ***
Almost 1,500 women at ‘very high risk’ of breast cancer have missed potentially life-saving annual check-ups due to a blunder.
NHS bosses have written to every woman affected apologizing for the mistake made 20 years ago.
An urgent catch-up program is offering all 1,487 women a scan over the next three months.
Officials have written to each affected woman apologizing for the mistake and offering an urgent scan. The error meant that women who received above-the-waist radiotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma between 1962 and 2003 were not contacted for annual breast cancer screening checks.
The error only applies to women who received above-the-waist radiation therapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma between 1962 and 2003.
As a result of the treatment, they are at increased risk of developing breast cancer, a disease that affects around 55,000 British women every year.
A guideline issued by the chief medical officer 20 years ago ruled that women in this category should have annual MRI checks as part of a plan to detect the disease as early as possible, when the chances of survival are highest.
However, NHS bosses were told last year that some women had never been invited.
Follow-up research showed that around a third of women affected by the ruling did not receive annual scans.
The NHS has insisted on being transparent about the issue and has tried to reassure women that they would all be offered a catch-up scan ‘urgently’ within the next three months.
Health authorities have also identified a ‘much smaller historical group’, whose data is currently being verified and will be written to in the coming weeks.
Women who have undergone radiation therapy above the waist for Hodgkin’s lymphoma do not begin an annual MRI test immediately after treatment.
Doctors say the increased risk of breast cancer doesn’t become apparent until about a decade later.
But in 2003, doctors were asked to contact both previous and current patients to refer them for annual checkups. This has not been done.
Officials said details of the 1,487 women who missed it were shared with NHS England at the end of September 2023, which identified the women affected.
Ministers were informed 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 chest radiotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, who may not have yet been offered additional annual screening .
‘Although most of these women have already been enrolled in the NHS breast screening program for regular mammograms, all affected women will now receive support and be invited for an annual MRI, and in most cases an annual mammography, as soon as possible – the NHS will to do that. aim to complete this within three months.
‘We would like to sincerely apologize to those affected for any additional concerns this may have caused.
‘Anyone who has previously had chest radiotherapy for the treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is concerned that 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, details of which will be included in the letters sent to them.
It will also undertake a review of the process that refers these women to the most appropriate service for their risk, to mitigate any future impact of this problem.