Up to 270 feared dead in shocking NHS breast cancer computer glitch

A computer blunder in the UK is believed to be responsible for the deaths of up to 270 women after glitch in the health department’s IT system saw thousands of women miss out on their routine breast screening. 

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the British parliament this week that women in their late 60s and early 70s across England weren’t invited to their routine screening because of a computer algorithm failure in 2009.

“Earlier this year, PHE [Public Health England] analysis of trial data from the service found that there was a computer algorithm failure dating back to 2009,” Secretary Hunt said. “The latest estimates I’ve received from PHE is that as a result of this, between 2009 and the start of 2018, an estimate of 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 were not invited to their final breast screening.”

Secretary Hunt said it wasn’t yet clear if the delay in diagnosis resulted in any avoidable harm or death, but conceded he was considering an independent review to establish the clinical impact of the computer glitch. He said anywhere between 135 and 270 lives could have been lost.

“I’m advised that it’s unlikely to be more than this range and may be considerably less,” he said. “However, tragically, there are likely to be some people in this group who would have been alive today if the failure had not happened.”

According to The Guardian, 309,000 women who missed the screening are still alive and will be contacted by the end of the month. Women under 72 will automatically be sent an invitation to attend a screening, while older women will be given access to resources and helplines to decide whether a screening is suitable.

It is also believed families of women who passed away will be contacted. An apology will be offered and families will be given an opportunity to establish whether the failed scan contributed to their loved one’s early death. Compensation may be offered to families where the missed scan is found to be the cause of death.

PHE first picked up on the computer problem in January, noting some services didn’t offer women a final screening in the three years before their 71st birthdays. It also issued an apology.

“On behalf of NHS [National Health Service] breast screening services, we apologise to the women affected and we are writing to them to offer a catch-up screening appointment,” PHE Deputy Medical Director Jenny Harries said in a statement. “They and their families’ wellbeing is our top priority and we are very sorry for these faults in the system.

“A complex IT problem with the breast screening invitation system has led to some women not being invited for their final screen between their sixty-eighth and seventy-first birthdays. We have carried out urgent work to identify the problem and have fixed it. Additional failsafe systems have been introduced to ensure the problem does not reoccur.”

It is believed local breast screening services across the UK are working with the NHS England and PHE to ensure all women and families impacted are contacted.

Are you shocked this could happen? When was the last time you got a breast scan?