Ever since 17,500 women in the Southern Trust area received letters advising them that their smear tests may have been read incorrectly for a 13 year period, a group of women, Ladies with Letters, have been tirelessly searching for answers as to what went wrong and how a long litany of failures was allowed to continue for so shockingly long.
Their story caught the attention of the producers of BBC One’s popular programme, “Dr Xand’s Con or Cure”.
In this health consumer programme, popular television Doctor, Dr Xand van Tulleken and investigative journalist, Ashley John-Baptiste ‘shine a light on bad medicine’.
Retired nurse Heather Thompson from Tandragee who received a letter from the Southern Trust back in October 2023 spoke out on the programme about the impact of the cervical screening review on herself and others.
She also urged women to listen to their body and even if they have had a clear test if they are not happy to go back to their GP and pursue what is wrong with them. This was also echoed by Dr Aziza Sesay on the programme, who is a GP and women’s healthcare advocate.
Speaking after the programme aired, Heather said: “It is great to get more UK wide exposure for our campaign and we thank Dr Xand’s Con or Cure team for helping us raise and maintain awareness of the issue as we continue to call for a Statutory Public Inquiry into this scandal which denied ladies in the Southern Trust area the opportunity for early detection and treatment.”
Programme presenter, Ashley John-Baptiste introducing the segment said: “When you go for a medical test, your lowest level of expectation is that your results are going to be read and interpreted correctly; but for over a decade in Northern Ireland some women’s smear tests were misread and the outcome has been devastating.”
Trevor Harbinson from Tandragee shared the heart-breaking story of how his wife Erin was failed and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Trevor spoke of his family’s anger and the gruelling treatments his wife had to endure. Erin died in August 2024 aged just 44 following three misread smear tests in 2012, 2015 and 2018.
Banbridge woman, Tracey Bell is also one of the Ladies with Letters. Tracey said: “There are still so many unanswered questions; questions that we have been seeking the answers to since we received our letters in October 2023 and the lack of answers is causing much frustration: Why were staff allowed to continue reading tests incorrectly for 13 years and who is going to take responsibility?
“People knew what was happening but nothing meaningful was done and unfortunately this lack of action has had a devastating impact on some ladies lives.
“It is for this reason we are calling for a Statutory Public Inquiry into this event of major public concern which has devastated confidence in the cervical screening programme.”
The next meeting of the Ladies with Letters group will take place on Wednesday, May 7, at 7pm in Millennium Court, Portadown.
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