The MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, has today written to York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to express her serious concern that 185 women in York Central were not invited for their final breast cancer screening appointment, and wants the Trust to take immediate action.

The latest in a line of errors from the Government has affected thousands of women across the UK. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care published a written statement on the breast screening error last month which revealed that a substantial number of women aged 68-71 were not invited to their final breast screening appointment.

Figures have now been broken down to show that 174,000 women have been affected nationally, and it is estimated that up to 75 lives were still shortened as a result of this error.

Ms Maskell said “I have examined the figures provided by the Secretary of State, and in York Central, 185 women are affected.

“York Teaching Hospital now needs to urgently provide support to these women, and to ensure those that would like a catch-up appointment can be screened as soon as possible. While this has been a major setback, the Breast Screening Programme remains key to early detection, preventing around 1,300 deaths from breast cancer each year in England. We now need to understand how this was allowed to happened and take steps to make sure it can never be repeated.”

If anyone wishes to discuss this with Rachael Maskell, then she will be willing to raise the impact of this serious error in the breast screening programme with Government.

Eluned Hughes, Head of Public Health and Information at Breast Cancer Now, said:

“It’s extremely concerning that 185 women in York Central did not receive their invites to breast screening. What’s most important is that these women are now given all the information they need to make an informed choice about whether to attend catch-up screening.

“But with tens of thousands of women having rightly been offered catch-up mammograms across England, we also now need the Government to urgently deliver on its promise to expand the workforce to cope with this increased demand while maintaining routine screening.

“Whilst screening is vital in detecting breast cancer at an early, more treatable stage, it’s also important that all women check their breasts regularly. There’s no special technique and you don’t need any training. Just get to know what looks and feels normal for you, check regularly, and report any unusual changes to your GP.”