This Cervical Cancer Awareness month several of the Ladies with Letters took the opportunity to share their stories and stress the importance of early screening.
When 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 litany of failures was allowed to continue for so shockingly long.
Retired nurse from Tandragee, Heather Thompson, who received a letter from the Southern Trust back in October 2023, has been a consistent voice on the impact of the cervical screening review on herself and others ever since.
Speaking to Armagh I, Heather explained that from the very beginning Ladies with Letters have always emphasised the importance of continuing to go for screening “because, when done right, screening saves lives”.
She added: “We have always encouraged women between smears if they have a problem such as bleeding or pain with intercourse or abdominal pain or back pain to go back and see your doctor.”
Ciara Gorman – from Kilkeel – was also impacted by the cervical screening scandal within the Southern Trust.
Like Heather, Ciara continues to use her voice to encourage women to be aware of the importance of screening and to attend those screening appointments.
Ciara is honest, in that her experience with Southern Trust has not always been favourable. Nonetheless, she continues to attend for smear appointments to this day, bravely sharing her own experience to help others make informed decisions.
Her journey started in April 2021 when Ciara’s smear came back with abnormal cells detected. After a colposcopy in June, she was then diagnosed two weeks later with Stage 1 cervical cancer.
“This diagnosis floored me,” said Ciara. “I had a second colposcopy under anaesthetic eight weeks later to make sure they had removed all the cancer cells. The waiting on the results from this was agony but in August I received the all clear.”
While the news that she was in remission of cancer was a huge weight off the young woman’s mind, she later received yet more devastating news when she discovered damage had been caused to her bladder by the colonoscopy which was discovered during an annual vault smear.
Ciara then underwent a total hysterectomy in May of 2022 followed by a major surgery in 2023 to repair the damage to her bladder.
She continued: “The recovery was a long journey to say the least but I got through it and considered myself lucky, it could have been so much worse.”
The following year, Ciara was contacted by the Trust whereby she was invited to attend a “disclosure meeting”. There it was outlined to Ciara that they had misread two of her smear test results, in 2014 and 2017.
She said: “This was a lot of overwhelming information to process. That initial meeting was almost 18 months ago and the process is still continuing. It has been a long, stressful journey and despite many requests I’m not sure I will ever get the answers from the Trust as to how and why this was allowed to happen.”
Despite her frustration, sadness and anger that it all “could have been prevented”, Ciara says she still feels “lucky”.
“I’m here to tell the tale, to push for answers, to call for a statutory public enquiry, to try and get answers for the women that unfortunately aren’t able to,” she explained.
“I’m not going to stop asking the questions until I get the truth, the closure I so desperately need.
“This long journey has taken its toll physically and mentally, not only on me but my family too. I think the least myself – and the other ladies involved in the SAI process, the 17,500 Ladies with Letters, the families of Lindsey Courtney and Erin Harbinson – deserve is the truth.
“We need a robust system that we can have total faith in. We need a reliable screening process that all women can trust.”
Most importantly, Ciara still believes in the ability of cervical screening in saving lives.
Of screening, she urges other women: “It’s so important to attend, I still attend annually for my vault smear.
“Please attend when called for screening; pre-cancerous cells can be detected many years ahead. It literally can save your life.
“If you have any symptoms or something just doesn’t feel right please contact your GP.”
It is worth noting that NHS smear tests have stopped routinely checking for cervical cell changes (cytology) unless HPV is detected. However, many cervical cancers are HPV negative and could be missed.
If you’re concerned or want the reassurance of full cytology testing, you can book a private smear with Armagh’s Blackwater Clinic here with both daytime and evening appointments available.
