Calls have been made for ABC Council to push for a public inquiry into “systemic” cervical screening misreads which have proved distressing for thousands of women in the Southern HSC Trust, and sadly claimed the lives of two of them.
Councillor Julie Flaherty has also called on the local authority to reconvene its Health Working Group as a matter of urgency.
The plight of these women has been regularly highlighted by the ‘Ladies with Letters’ campaigning group, and Cllr Flaherty feels strongly that full accountability for what happened is needed.
Speaking at the July 28 ABC monthly meeting, the UUP councillor stated: “It’s an issue I first raised. It’s coming up now on two years when letters started dropping through the doors of 17,500 women in our borough and beyond.
“This cytology screening review has thus far revealed shocking underperformance in smear test analysis conducted across every Health Trust in Northern Ireland, not just the Southern Trust. This isn’t a one-off failure confined to this area. This is systemic.
“The facts are very clear. From autumn 2023, approximately 17,500 women in the Southern Trust region had smear samples re-examined after initial misreads – as they’re called – between 2008 and 2021.”
Lynsey Courtney, from Portadown, tragically lost her brave battle with cervical cancer in September 2018, aged just 30.
Erin Harbinson, from Tandragee, sadly passed away aged 44, following a similar diagnosis, in August 2024. Three smear tests had been misread over the course of a decade.
Referring to both ladies, Cllr Flaherty continued: “Tragically, as we know, we have lost two fabulous local women, while others developed cancer following missed abnormalities.
“More recently, the analysis confirmed that all five Trusts have recorded episodes of screener underperformance, calling into question the integrity of the programme. And yet, in all of this, accountability remains absent.
“The Ladies with Letters advocacy group testified at Stormont and concluded, ‘No one has taken accountability, we are no further forward’.
“They expressed deep frustration at the failure of internal reviews. They described it as whitewash, and the continual delays on external reports from NHS bodies in Scotland, England and Wales, are really not on.
“This has to stop. What these women and their families are asking for and deserve is a statutory public inquiry. This is about trust. To rebuild that trust we need transparency, we need accountability and meaningful reform.
“This is exactly why a robust and fully-funded women’s health strategy is not just important, but it’s essential. It really must underpin every step we take forward, ensuring women’s voices are heard, their health prioritised, and their care safeguarded.
“So, as part of our local response, I am requesting that we have approval here this evening to reconvene our Health Committee at the earliest opportunity, and to formally invite representatives from the Public Health Agency and the Department of Health to come before us.
“They must talk us through the latest reports, so that we as elected representatives can ask the necessary questions to ensure the voices of our constituents are fully represented.
“We demand and need to secure some answers to shine a light on these failures, listen to the stories of the women affected and deliver some real change. We owe it to every woman who relied on this service, and to every family that has suffered in its wake.”
Cllr Keith Ratcliffe (TUV, Cusher DEA) expressed strong support for Cllr Flaherty’s call: “I speak with a heavy heart but a clear purpose here tonight, to echo the call for a statutory public inquiry into the cervical screening within the Southern Trust and further afield.
“It was a privilege to stand alongside the Ladies with Letters group in Stormont, as they brought their stories of Erin Harbinson and Linsey Courtney to the Health Minister.
“Both were failed by a system that should have protected them. Their families and countless others deserve answers.
“The RCPATH (Royal College of Pathologists) report confirms what many feared. Lives lost and lives altered, because of unacceptable failings in smear test screenings.
“Over 17,000 women have had to relive trauma. Since then, we’ve learned that every Health Trust in Northern Ireland has reported screener underperformance.
“This is no longer a local issue. It’s widespread. A statutory public inquiry with full legal powers is the only way to uncover the whole truth, hold people accountable and ensure it never happens again.
“Let us send the united message that we stand with the families. We demand transparency and we will not accept silence where there should be justice.
“The lives of these women matter. The truth matters, and only a full public inquiry will suffice. I second Cllr Flaherty’s proposal.”
Cllr Clare McConville-Walker (Sinn Féin, Portadown DEA), who poignantly revealed at a previous meeting that she too had been affected by the cervical screening review, also backed Cllr Flaherty’s call: “I was one of those ladies with a letter and it was just unbelievable. And for those women who have then had to go off and have repeat smears done and received treatment from it, it’s absolutely horrific what has happened.
“To listen to those ladies tell their stories is just unbelievable. And the courage of those ladies, and of the two ladies who died, and the work that those families are doing to raise awareness.
“I just don’t know how they get the strength to do it. I just think it’s amazing. And I know that the Ladies with Letters group is going to continue until they get answers.
“Women here definitely deserve better, and these situations really do raise the flaws that we have in our health service. We shouldn’t be going for smear tests, for them to be misread.
“I agree with Cllr Flaherty’s request for the Health Working Group, because we can use our voices here to ask these important questions, and to try and push for development in all of this and to get better services, especially for women.”
Alderman Paul Greenfield (DUP, Banbridge DEA) explained he too has been closely involved with the Ladies with Letters’ campaign: “I work with Diane Dodds [MLA] who’s been meeting regularly with this group also.
“Just very recently, we sat in a meeting with the minister along with the ladies, and it’s very difficult hearing the stories again, and speaking to these ladies and what they’re going through.
“It’s right tonight that we call again for a public inquiry, and I hope that this will happen very quickly.”
Cllr Flaherty’s request for the ABC Working Group to be reconvened enjoyed unanimous support.
