ABC Council is to write to the Northern Ireland Executive and demand Ministers act to overturn a decision not to hold a statutory public inquiry into the cervical screening scandal which has rocked the Southern Trust.
One councillor went so far as calling on the Ulster Unionist Party to replace Mike Nesbitt as Health Minister if he does not move to reverse the decision himself.
Minister Nesbitt recently accepted the findings of a report by Professor Sir Frank Atherton in which he expressed his opinion that an inquiry would be “inappropriate”.
Councillors of all political persuasions rallied behind the Ladies with Letters campaign group, who had insisted that the “fight is far from over” upon publication of Sir Frank’s report.
It is now close to three years since 17,500 women in the Southern Health & Social Care Trust area received letters advising them that their cervical screening results were being reviewed, as they may have been read incorrectly.
The letters were issued following a report by the Royal College of Pathologists, which uncovered serious failings in cervical screening carried out by the Southern Trust over a 13-year period.
The failings led to delayed diagnosis and disease progression, denying women the opportunity for early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.
Two women from County Armagh – Lynsey Courtney from Portadown and Erin Harbinson from Tandragee – died. Both were young mothers who attended screening, received incorrect results and went on to develop, and tragically die from, cervical cancer.
Both Lynsey and Erin and their families were remembered and tributes were paid during the course of debate at ABC Council’s monthly meeting, the situation described as not just a “scandal” but a “tragedy”.
It was Ulster Unionist Councillor Julie Flaherty, an ardent support of the Ladies with Letters, who initiated discussion around the decision not to go down the road of a public enquiry.
She said: “For many women and families across the community, this has been deeply distressing and emotionally exhausting. Like many others, this issue has touched me personally, I’ve said before in here and been very clear, including family members and friends who received the letters. I don’t know how I didn’t get one. Somebody was looking over me, but they experienced the fear and the uncertainty that followed. I’ve lived some of it with them.
“Seeing that impact at close hand has reinforced how significant this has been, both emotionally and in terms of public confidence in our health system. I know that there has been a deep disappointment, that’s an understatement, amongst many families and campaigners that a full public inquiry was not established, particularly given the seriousness and sensitivity of this issue.
“However, regardless of differing interpretations of that decision, I think we all share responsibility to ensure lessons are learned, transparency is strengthened and confidence is rebuilt moving forward. I’ve said it many times, we need to have trust in the trust, and that is regardless of what others may wish to do in the future.”
Councillor Flaherty said she had called last November for the council’s health working group to be convened after the publication of the Atherton Review, “to engage directly with the relevant bodies on this matter”.
She added: “We all have been patient in allowing the process to conclude, but I believe now is the appropriate time for that engagement to take place. Therefore, I would ask that this issue be brought before the council’s health working group, as was previously agreed, with an invitation extended, in particular, to the Public Health Agency, and as I indicated earlier, the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.
“The purpose would not be to relitigate the report itself – quite frankly, we have had enough reports at this point – but rather to allow councillors the opportunity to better understand what improvements are now being implemented, what safeguards are being strengthened and how confidence in the cervical screening services programme can be rebuilt across our communities. I believe the engagement would be constructive, transparent and, ultimately, what we all want is a benefit for the public we all represent.”
Alliance Councillor Peter Lavery said he, like many others had been “shocked and appalled” by the recent decision not to commission a statutory public inquiry.
Added Councillor Lavery: “The explicit conclusion in Sir Frank Atherton’s report on cervical screening was that an inquiry would give greater assurance around full information disclosure, and the truthfulness of testimony by individuals and organisations involved in the scandal, yet the Health Minister said no.
“I must commend continued campaigning of the Ladies with Letters group and endorse their conclusion that the Health Minister is failing to uncover the full truth of the cervical screening scandal. We cannot expect the thousands of women who were impacted by the scandal just to draw a line under this and move on without proper closure.
“As such, I request that this council writes to the Health Minister, calling on him to reverse his decision, and instead commission a statutory public inquiry into the cervical screening scandal in order to ensure accountability and a full, truthful account of the actions and failures involved.
“Finally, should Mike Nesbitt refuse to reverse his decision, then I would call on the UUP leadership to change who their nominee is for Health Minister and replace him with another representative whose first act would be to commission a public inquiry. The ladies will not accept the current status quo.”
DUP Councillor Lavelle McIlwrath said he agreed with writing to the Minister seeking a reversal of his decision.
“The families of Lynsey Courtney and Erin Harbinson deserve better. They deserve to know the truth,” he added. “To not even mention them in press releases and reports has stirred much justified anger and resentment out in the community. The devastated families, the thousands of Ladies with Letters, and the wider community, quite frankly, have been left disappointed and let down by the system.”
Acknowledging that “thousands” of the ladies affected lived in the ABC borough, he said a public inquiry would help bring accountability and “deliver answers for those who have lost so much”.
Said Councillor McIlwrath: “I think I’m on record in this chamber as being the first councillor that asked for a public inquiry and tonight that hasn’t changed. The battle is not over, and to Callum, Sandra and Ron Courtney, who I have known personally now for a good number of years, and to the Harbinson family, you’re very much in our thoughts and prayers as you continue to navigate this torturous journey for truth and accountability.”
TUV Councillor Keith Ratcliffe said his thoughts and prayers were with all of those who had been affected by the judgement.
And he added: “TUV was the first political party to call out for a public inquiry into the Ladies with Letters scandal, and we remain firm in the view that this must be held. Nothing short of a full inquiry under the terms of the 2005 Act, will provide answers that are needed in this scandal.
“Such an inquiry would be independently chaired by a judge, involve multiple public hearings, have the power to compel documents and witnesses, and result in publication of a comprehensive report into what exactly happened and what went wrong. Yes, it’s an expensive process, but it’s the only way to build confidence in the system, hold people accountable and bring justice for women who are impacted.
“ We are talking about thousands and thousands of women and families, including those that have lost loved ones. No-one will be satisfied with the Minister’s announcement. It looks like the system’s closing ranks and running away from confronting the real issues.
“Tellingly, when the Health Minister was asked by Timothy Gaston MLA if Lynsey Courtney and Erin Harbinson would be alive if the Southern Health and Care Trust had not deviated from guidance from the NHS cervical screening programme, Mr Nesbitt’s response said that it was an open question.
“That is not good enough. That is not good enough for families. That is not good enough for women in Northern Ireland. The question could and should be answered and the families demand and deserve an answer.”
Sinn Fein Councillor Clare McConville-Walker revealed she was one of the ladies who received a letter.
And she added: “Thankfully mine came back that the review was clear, but my thoughts are with those ladies who have suffered and have had to go through operations, families who have lost loved ones. The Harbinson and Courtney families, their strength is just absolutely unbelievable. And in the midst of their own grief, they are campaigning for other women. It’s just so heartening to watch.
“It’s been referred to as a scandal here and that’s exactly what it is. It is a scandal and I think not having the review is also a missed opportunity to review women’s health here and the health services as a whole here in the North.
“I do support the call for us to write as a council, to reconsider the review because I think it’s the only way to pave a better way forward to get justice for those people who have lost their lives. The work of the Ladies with Letters group, I don’t even think people realise the hours and hours and commitment and the strain that those ladies have put on their own lives, on their own health, in pursuit of standing up for other women in asking for better, so I can’t pay enough tributes to them.
“And I also think about those women who are part of that 17,000 plus who maybe haven’t attended meetings, who haven’t spoken out, who are quietly suffering at home because of all of this. I would urge them to come forward. We need this review. It’s the only way to pave a way forward and to build our trust in the system.”
It was SDLP Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon who insisted the decision should now be taken out of the Minister’s hands if he fails to go down the line of an enquiry.
He said: “Whilst I support writing to the Health Minister, I would ask that a copy of the letter is sent to every Minister in the Executive, and that if the Health Minister doesn’t take the action, that the Executive and all the Ministers call in that decision not to hold a public inquiry, because the simple reason being, our Executive will call in decisions, and they will take each other to court on items that don’t have the same impact on women’s health, on the health of our society.
“So this is a challenge to the Executive – If you don’t agree with the decision the Health Minister has taken, call it in and make the decision.”
Independent Unionist Alderman Paul Berry commended the Ladies with Letter who “have continued to fight this battle”.
“We were all hugely disappointed, angry and annoyed in relation to the Minister’s decision,” he said. “On a personal level, I had the pleasure of knowing Erin Harbinson. She worked in the nursery where my three children attended and was loved by all children.
“At a very personal level, every time it comes up, we can’t help but think of her and indeed her husband, Trevor, and their family, because she left a young family, as did the Courtneys. Obviously our prayers continue to be with them.”
Alderman Berry said he was happy to second the proposal to write to the Executive and felt it “important that this is called in”.
“We can go around all the legalities of the day, but with the greatest respect, take politics out of it. If there’s one thing that needs to be called in, and one thing that needs to be dealt with, it is this issue here, because of this complete and utter scandal that happened these ladies and, sadly, many more,” he said.
“If the Minister and if the Executive think that Heather Thompson and Tracy Bell and Co are going to go away, they have another think coming, and I think we will get 100% behind them. I’m 100% behind this letter with the amendment in relation to asking the Executive to call this in.”
