Some women, who received letters from the Southern Trust following concerns over cervical smear tests, are 'already extremely ill'

Last October the Southern Health Trust wrote to more than 17,000 women to advise them that their previous smear result was being reviewed as a precautionary measure as part of the Southern Trust Cervical Screening Review.

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This came about because in July 2022, laboratory staff notified the Southern Health Trust management they were concerned about the performance of some screening staff. The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPATH) was asked to carry out an independent assessment of the Trust's cervical screening service over 10 years. It found that while most negative results were correct, a significant number of women were likely to have had negative screening results which would have been identified as potentially abnormal by other laboratories.

Last week a number of women who had received letters from the Trust met with Health Minister Robin Swan to discuss the situation and have also called for an independent review to be set up.

Heather Thompson, from Tandragee, who has been instrumental in a campaign for results and answers explained on foot of this review said: “Today 7 of us attended a meeting with Health Minister Robin Swann at the Department of Health, Stormont. We had the opportunity to express our concerns and seek clarification on the ongoing cervical smear review. We have asked that an independent review be initiated.

"We are here to speak on behalf of all the women involved in this review and we are determined to see this through.

“Prior to this meeting we have made representation to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris. Karin Smyth MP and Shadow Minister for Health and Fleur Anderson MP and Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland have been extremely supportive. They are liaising with us and following our case closely.”

Cllr Julie Flaherty BEM, who has been supporting the ladies commented following the meeting. “I was very proud to be able, at last, to take these ladies directly to the heart of the Department of Health yesterday. When this first came to light with the delivery of 17,500 letters through doors in October last year, I knew that the only way to be heard was via a Health Minister at the helm.

"I am so proud of this group of ladies- our ‘Ladies With Letters’. They took their concerns directly to the door of our Health Minister and The Deputy Chief Medical Officer - they did that for every one of those 17,500 women who received a letter from the Trust back in October.

"Some of these ladies are well - and will be well. Some are very ill already - extremely ill in truth, and those in between…well…that remains to be seen.

"This has the makings of an absolute scandal in women’s health care here in the Southern Trust. Evidently a series of systemic shortcomings have been allowed to persist and are only coming to light now.

"Let’s try to get some answers for these women- it is utterly unacceptable that this has gone on for so many years when our primary focus must be encouraging women to look after their gynaecological health.

"Finally in Northern Ireland we are catching up with the HPV vaccination and screening programme so trust must be restored. We must support all the women who through no fault of their own are caught up in this.

"These women want to know why, how and who allowed this to happened over such a long period of time.”

The next meeting with the ladies is on 17th April at the slightly earlier time of 7pm in Millennium Court, Portadown.

A spokesperson for the Southern Health Trust said: “The Trust is working towards completing the Cervical Screening Review in the next few months and our absolute priority is to ensure that the women involved are informed of their outcomes/results as soon as possible.

"We are also committed to providing regular updates on key aspects of the process and there will be further updates to come as part of this process.

"It is really very important to emphasise the fact that cervical screening is not a diagnostic test (rather it is for people without symptoms and aims to detect early changes which could go on to develop into cervical cancer if left untreated).

"At the start of the Cervical Screening Review, the Trust anticipated that for the majority of women their smear result would not change.

"Nevertheless, it was important to look again for abnormalities as a precautionary measure and to double check that the correct result was given. Whilst it is still too early to provide definitive feedback on the overall outcome of the review, the Trust can advise that, to date, the vast majority of slide review results have been the same as the original one. In addition, currently no ‘high-grade’ abnormalities have been found (high-grade abnormalities are cell changes that could progress to cancer if left unchecked or untreated).

"We are sincerely sorry for any concern the ongoing review may cause the women affected and we urge anybody with concerns to contact our dedicated Helpline for this Cervical Review managed by highly skilled staff who are available and ready to support you. This Helpline is open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm on 0800 9520255. An answerphone is available outside these hours where women can leave your name and contact number and our staff will return your call the next working day.

"Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or visit the Southern Trust Website at www.southerntrust.hscni.net following the link to the Cervical Screening Review Information Page.”