The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

The U.K. failed to tell thousands to get breast cancer screenings

Hundreds may have died as a result

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May 5, 2018 at 8:33 a.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Amanda Erickson.

Every three years, women between the ages of 50 and 70 are entitled to a breast cancer screening in the United Kingdom as part of the government-run universal health-care system. Women registered with a primary-care physician get automatic reminders inviting them to come in.

But a system error has caused thousands of women to miss their breast cancer screenings, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed this week.

• Since 2009, at least 450,000 women between the ages of 68 and 71 did not receive their notices. Thousands did not come in for screenings as a result.

• According to Hunt, 309,000 of the affected women are still alive. They will get a letter by the end of May, urging them to come in for an appointment.

• Some of the women may have died. A computer model suggests between 135 and 270 women may have had their lives shortened as a result, Hunt said.

In his speech to the House of Commons, Hunt apologized “wholeheartedly,” acknowledging that the screening program had “not been nearly good enough.”

“It is incredibly upsetting to know that you did not receive an invitation for screening at the correct time and totally devastating to hear you may have lost or be about to lose a loved one because of administrative incompetence,” Hunt said.

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The problem was caught because of an upgrade to the IT system of the breast cancer screening invitation program. Because of a glitch in the algorithm, many women around the age of 70 did not get an invitation for their final screening. Women stop receiving letters after that screening.

Cancer organizations expressed frustration and outrage. Breast Cancer Now CEO Delyth Morgan told the Guardian it was “beyond belief” that the issue continued for a decade. It’s a “colossal system failure,” she said.