Mr Nesbitt was speaking after MLAs stood with a group of women at Stormont calling for a probe into cervical screening failures.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said he is “committed to understanding the circumstances and events” which led to a major review of cervical screening in a Northern Ireland health trust.
Mr Nesbitt was speaking after MLAs stood with a group of women at Stormont on Tuesday calling for a probe into cervical screening failures. The Ladies with Letters group want to see a statutory public inquiry into a major recheck of smear test results in the Southern Health Trust.
Around 17,500 women in the Trust area who were screened between 2008 and 2021 had to have their results 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.
READ MORE: MLAs back Ladies with Letters call for public inquiry into Southern Health Trust cervical screening reviewREAD MORE: Ladies with Letters call for public inquiry into Southern Health Trust cervical screening review
The campaign group met with MLAs as this week marks two years since the 17,500 women impacted received letters advising them that their smear tests were being reviewed. They have also published an open letter to the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, urging him to establish an inquiry to uncover the truth and reform the system.
Responding, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said from the outset of the Cervical Cytology Review, he has given the matter his “full attention and concern”, and has “listened intently to those that have been affected”, who remain the key focus for himself and his officials.
He said: “I have met with the Ladies with Letters Group on a number of occasions and I have also met with other families impacted. I acknowledge that this has been a difficult and challenging time. I remain committed to understanding the circumstances and events which led to the precautionary review of cervical cytology in the Southern Trust.
“It is important we understand, that we learn and that we continue to build on the improvements already made so that we continue to have a high-quality population-based cervical screening programme in Northern Ireland.”
Mr Nesbitt confirmed that significant changes have already been made to the cervical screening programme:
- HPV testing (human papilloma virus testing) – a better and more reliable automated test, was fully implemented as the primary test for the cervical screening programme from December 2023
- Cytology is now a second line test, undertaken for screening samples which test positive for the presence of HPV
- Since November 2024 a single regional laboratory service. provided by the Belfast Trust, undertakes all primary HPV tests and all cytology follow-up tests for the cervical screening programme.
He added: “The data that have been referenced relate to sensitivity results for individual primary screeners at particular points in time rather than the performance of respective laboratories. These data should not be considered in isolation – they do not include any wider contextual information on the operation of laboratories or the quality assurance processes that were in place, and should therefore not be used as a single measure of performance.
“The PHA has assured the Department that assessment of the overall performance of laboratories and consideration of all relevant information on their operation does not support the premise that there was persistent underperformance in other trusts.
“Three further screening-related reports are due to be published in the coming weeks. I have requested that these reports are published at the same time. They relate to the full cervical screening pathway and need to be viewed in their entirety and in conjunction with the reports already published.
“Given the complexity of the issues at hand, I have tasked officials with considering how best to provide an overall picture of the complex and detailed information set out in all of the reports and assessments before I determine my next steps.
“I believe we share the common aims of understanding exactly what happened, understanding why it happened and identifying what might still need to be addressed thus allowing us to continue to make tangible improvements to service delivery as required.”
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