Members of the Ladies with Letters campaign group again met the Health Minister at Stormont on Monday to ask for his commitment to initiating a Statutory Public Inquiry without delay into the cervical screening scandal.
They didn’t get the answer they needed, but whilst the Minister hasn’t promised an inquiry, he hasn’t ruled it out either.
It is now over two years since two years since 17,500 women in the Southern Health & Social Care Trust (SHSCT) area received letters advising them that their cervical screening results (smear tests) were being reviewed as they may have been read incorrectly.
The letters were issued following a report by the Royal College of Pathologists (RCP), which uncovered serious failings in cervical screening carried out by the SHSCT over a 13-year period.
The failings lead to delayed diagnosis and disease progression, denying ladies the opportunity for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.
Very sadly, there are also two deaths to date that we are aware of – Lynsey Courtney from Portadown and Erin Harbinson from Tandragee; both young mothers who attended screening, received incorrect results, and went on to develop and tragically die from cervical cancer.
Ladies with Letters, a collective of women directly impacted by the cervical screening review, came together to campaign for transparency and demand accountability. They have been tirelessly searching for answers as to what went wrong and how a litany of failures was allowed to continue for so shockingly long. With the publication of reports last month, the ladies are more resolute than ever in their call for a Statutory Public Inquiry, whilst Mike Nesbitt is sticking to his plan of commissioning a further review by Professor Sir Frank Atherton, a process which Ladies with Letter have requested to be involved in.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Tracey Bell from Banbridge said: “We do thank the Minister for continuing to give this crucial issue his attention. We had the opportunity to set out very clearly why a Statutory Pubic Inquiry is the right answer now. The reports commissioned so far have not established the facts – there were no legal powers to compel documents or witness evidence and they have relied heavily on information supplied by the very bodies that are under scrutiny; there are clear conflicts of interest, a distinct lack of independence and conflicting information.
“The processes did not put women affected and bereaved families at the centre.
“There has been no restoration of public confidence in cervical screening or its oversight. There is no good reason to wait or commission further piecemeal reports with the same flaws– only a public, independent process will be credible enough to result in effective change.”
Tracey added: “We delivered to the Minister draft terms of reference for a clear, time-limited Statutory Public Inquiry focused on answers, not blame theatre. Weak governance in the Trust allowed known concerns to drift for years – now is the time to stop that drift.”
Heather Thompson, a retired nurse from Tandragee and a founding member of the group, said: “The Minister has previously said on two occasions that if the reports did not give him and us the answers he sought, he would consider other measures such as an Inquiry.
“It is our hope that this would be a Statutory Public Inquiry. It is clear that the Minister does not have the answers that he sought, so NOW is the time. The women and families of Northern Ireland deserve the truth, not another internal review. The evidence shows serious, systematic failures that only a statutory inquiry can properly investigate.
“Delay has already cost too much. We call on the Minister to please do the right thing today and help to restore some trust in the Northern Ireland Cervical Screening Programme.”
