Lawyers last night warned the blunder at the heart of the breast cancer screening scandal will cost the NHS millions of pounds in compensation.
They are expecting those families affected to launch a ‘huge legal challenge’ against the health service.
After Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised compensation to families who lost a loved one as a direct result of the error, payouts are expected to range from £65,000 to £1million.
Between 130 and 270 women are feared to have died as a direct result of missing screening invitations due to the ‘devastating’ IT glitch.
Trixie Gough (pictured) died of breast cancer just before her 76th birthday. After news of the screening scandal broke today, her husband Brian said he was ‘gobsmacked’ and knew ‘straight away’ his wife, pictured, had not been given the scan
But many others may have had to endure unpleasant treatment and surgery because tumours were diagnosed late.
Maria Panteli, partner in the clinical negligence team at the solicitors Leigh Day said: ‘It is no surprise to learn that a failure to invite these women to their final scan meant that hundreds of lives were affected with many tragically shortened.
‘The Government now faces a potentially huge legal challenge on behalf of thousands of women, and their families, which could cost millions of pounds in compensation for those whose lives have been ruined by these failures.
‘The announcement of an independent inquiry is to be welcomed, but it must be soon and it must be rigorous.
‘It needs to looks at all the reasons of how such a tragedy could have happened and be absolutely sure in its findings that, with so many lives at stake, it couldn’t happen again.’
Olivia Mitchison, senior solicitor at the negligence solicitors Bolt Burdon Kemp said: ‘This is an example of an unacceptable administrative error which may have had fatal consequences.
‘If shown to be the case, this could lead to many medical negligence claims and cost the NHS thousands in compensation. Patient safety must be the top priority for the NHS.
Mauveen Stone (pictured with husband John) , who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, claims doctors said she had ‘slipped through the net’. She too may be eligible for compensation
‘These women have been let down and put at risk because of this administrative error. This has the potential to lead to a class action.’
GPs yesterday warned that they would be inundated with worried patients trying to find out what to do next.
Health officials are in the process to writing to the 309,000 women affected by the scandal who are still alive and living in the UK.
Those who are aged 70 or 71 will be encouraged to have ‘catch up’ screening. But if they are 72 or older, however, they will face an agonising choice as to whether to have the mammograms.
At this age there is a risk they will do more harm than good by picking up slow-growing tumours, which then have to be surgically removed.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘We are shocked to learn that hundreds of thousands of women in England have missed out on their opportunity for breast screening – and the implications for GPs and our teams will potentially be significant, as patients seek reassurance and to find out where they go from here.’
Patricia Minchin (pictured) was diagnosed with breast cancer two years after she failed to get a letter for her final routine breast scan. She could potentially get a hefty payout
My wife might have lived is she hadn’t missed out on her final scan
By Inderdeep Bains
Trixie Gough died of breast cancer just days after her 76th birthday.
Her husband of 55 years Brian said the disease could have been spotted earlier had a computer error not meant she missed out on her final scan.
Mr Gough said when he saw Jeremy Hunt’s speech about the blunder yesterday he realised his wife had been affected. ‘I was completely gobsmacked and knew straight away Trix was one of the people never given a scan,’ he said.
‘I’m devastated, I have her ashes next to me. I’m amazed that it has taken them the best part of a decade to spot the problem. It’s extraordinary.’
Trixie Gough, pictured in the days before her death in 2015, is among 450,00 women who never got a final cancer scan that may have saved her life after a ‘colossal’ NHS IT failure
The 77-year-old from Norfolk added: ‘There are thousands of real people involved in this, people like Trixie, who didn’t deserve to lose their lives.
‘I’m not saying she wouldn’t have got cancer but it could have been found earlier if she was given the scan. You have to wonder if the result would have been different.’
Mrs Gough failed to receive the notification to make an appointment for screening by the time she was 71, her husband said.
In October 2010 she found a lump in her breast and immediately saw her GP who sent her for a scan and she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She had surgery followed by radio therapy and chemotherapy but after two years the cancer returned and she again went through a period of chemotherapy and blood transfusions.
Brian Gough’s wife Trixie, from Norfolk, pictured together before she fell ill, says he only found out about the scandal today while watching TV
The disease spread to her other organs and she lost her life on December 28 2015.
‘We worked all our lives and this was the time we wanted to enjoy together. That’s not possible now. She’s gone and I live alone,’ Mr Gough said.
‘It’s been very painful going over this again but she was a wonderful, brave, uncomplaining wife for almost 56 years and she is still missed enormously by all of the family. Doctors said I slipped through the net’
Mauveen Stone, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, claims doctors said she had ‘slipped through the net’.
The 84-year-old from Yeovil in Somerset had her last screening in 1995 when she was 62 and was given the all-clear.
However, she was never again invited to another screening or her final routine scan when she turned 70.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured today in the Commons) said anyone who had lost a loved one as a result of a missed scan would be eligible for compensation
It was only last year when she discovered a lump in her breast that she sought a check-up and doctors discovered a slow-growing cancer.
The former pub landlady and great-grandmother had to undergo surgery to remove four lymph nodes.
‘The doctors were surprised that my last screening had been in 1995. They said I must have slipped under the net,’ the mother of five said.
‘If I was invited for a screening I most definitely would have gone like I did in 1995. I do not know why I did not get any more letters. I have been at the same address since.
‘It was not something I thought about until I felt the lump. As my cancer was slow growing I don’t know how long it has been present or if it would have made a difference if I went earlier.
‘But it may well have been spotted earlier if I had been sent the invitation. I was very lucky it was slow growing. Other women might not have been so lucky.’
The problems with breast cancer screening date back to 2009 and will raise questions for both the Tories and Labour on why it was not uncovered sooner
Mrs Stone who has been given the all clear now has to undergo annual screenings.
‘I want to know why this happened’
Patricia Minchin was diagnosed with breast cancer two years after she failed to get a letter for her final routine breast scan.
The 75-year-old believes she was a victim of the error because she was due the check-up in 2013 at the age of 70 but was never sent the notification and was not screened.
Two years later she was diagnosed with breast cancer and feels she could have avoided the ‘trauma’ of the disease with earlier screening.
‘I look back now and think, you know, everything that happened since could possibly have been avoided or lessened,’ she said.
‘The whole journey I went on, the traumatic journey, all the treatment may never have had to happen.’ Mrs Minchin said she received her last letter from the breast screening programme in 2010 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013.
She told Sky News yesterday: ‘I would like somebody to tell me how it could possibly happen that I haven’t been invited for a mammogram since 2010.’