Breast screening IT error affected about 2,000 women in Shropshire
About 2,000 women in Shropshire were affected by the NHS breast cancer screening failure, it has been revealed.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the House of Commons last month that hundreds of thousands of women had not been sent invitations for the scans since 2009 because of a national computer error.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) launched an investigation to find out how many women in the county had been affected and put in place extra capacity for catch-up breast screening sessions to take place.
Nigel Lee, chief operating officer at SaTH, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, told a recent meeting of the trust board that about 2,000 patients in Shropshire had been affected.
SaTH is offering catch-up sessions to women in Shropshire, aged between 70 and 79, who did not receive their invitations.
They are in addition to the normal NHS breast screening sessions.
Mr Lee said: "It will take us until early autumn to get through all of those patients."
He said it was not known if anyone in the county had died because of the error.
Women affected have been sent letters offering them the opportunity for a catch-up session.
Appointments were due to start last month.
Staff at SaTH have been volunteering to work extra hours to ensure that all women who want appointments can be seen within six months.
Health bosses have thanked them for their commitment.
Nationally, the error led to 450,000 people missing out on their final routine breast cancer screening.
Women aged between 50 and 70 are supposed to be invited for a mammogram every three years.
An independent review has been launched into the failure.
Last month, Public Health England, which oversees the screening programme, said it was 100 percent focused on providing advice and support to the women and their families who were not invited for their final NHS breast screening test.
The problem was first identified as a national issue in January 2018 following analysis of anomalies in data for the Age X trial.
Public Health England said it would be sharing all information about its role and how it works with NHS England and NHS breast screening services with the independent review.
There is an official helpline for those who think they may be affected.
People should call 0800 169 2692.
