03-07-2025
Campaign group calls for public inquiry into cervical screening failures
A campaign group set up following a major review of cervical screening in a Northern Ireland health trust has said it is time for a statutory public inquiry to be established.
The Ladies with Letters group said they are 'no further forward' in relation to their concerns being addressed after attending a meeting of the Stormont Health Committee which received an update on the Cytology Screening Review.
Around 17,500 women in the Southern Trust area who were screened between 2008 and 2021 had to have their smear tests rechecked after concerns were first raised in a report commissioned by the Royal College of Pathologists.
It emerged last year that the trust review showed that eight women went on to develop cancer after their smears were misread and another 11 women needed pre-cancerous treatment.
At the time, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said the review would be the subject of independent expert analysis after which he would decide on the next steps.
At the committee on Thursday, Professor Lourda Geoghegan, deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health, updated MLAs on the next steps.
She said: 'The minister's aim is he wants to understand very clearly what occurred in relation to this screening programme, particularly in relation to the service as it was delivered in the Southern Trust.
'He wants to understand why it happened, he wants to understand what the responsibilities are across it, he wants to understand that lessons have been learnt and that such matters will not happen again.'
She said a number of further reports were coming to a conclusion which would be published at the same time.
She said this included an expert opinion from outside Northern Ireland on the previous reports published, a report of a peer review visit undertaken by NHS England and a number of learning reviews involving patients.
Ms Geoghegan said the new reports would potentially be published in August or September.
The Ladies with Letters group was established by a number of women who received letters from the trust informing them their smear tests were being re-examined. Several members watched the committee proceedings.
Their lawyer Enda McGarrity said: 'After listening to the questions put to the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency by the health committee members, we feel, as we're sure the health committee do, that we are no further forward.
'No-one has taken accountability for the scandal that happened over 13 years and, as a group, we still have many questions that remain unanswered – how did this happen, why did it continue for 13 years and who is going to take responsibility?'
Mr McGarrity added: 'Ladies with Letters has engaged with the Minister for Health on these issues for over a year.
'They have waited long enough, and their patience is wearing thin.
'Their request is a simple one – the minister should without further delay establish a statutory public inquiry with full powers to compel evidence, witnesses and which places those who have suffered most at the heart of its work.'
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