Kurt Greater than 5,000 individuals who ought to have been provided most cancers or different sorts of routine screening didn’t obtain invites due to an error relationship way back to 2008, NHS England says.
These affected have now been notified and given particulars of a devoted helpline for help.
About 10 individuals are thought to have since died, however it’s not clear whether or not any screening might have prevented these deaths.
The screening included checks for attainable cervical, breast and bowel most cancers, in addition to stomach aortic aneurysm.
The error first got here to gentle in 2024, when some individuals contacted the well being service to say that they had not acquired invites.
The problem was brought on by instances the place sufferers’ GP registration course of hadn’t been absolutely accomplished by practices, that means their particulars didn’t movement via to NHS screening IT techniques to ask eligible individuals for routine screening.
NHS England believes a complete of 5,261 individuals have been affected.
Steve Russell, NHS nationwide director for vaccinations and screening, mentioned: “This problem has now been fastened and everybody affected might be provided help and any catch-up screening as quickly as attainable, together with the place they might now be above screening age.
“We want to lengthen our honest apologies to these affected for this error and any further fear this may occasionally have induced.
“Anybody who is worried they might have missed an invite to screening can name our devoted helpline for help and additional info.”
Round 15 million individuals are invited to NHS screening yearly.
NHS England says it has issued steerage to GP Practices and Built-in Care Boards to verify all affected person registrations are absolutely accomplished, and has put in place new measures to make sure all eligible individuals are invited for screening.
Anybody on this group that’s now not eligible for screening will be capable to have their screening in the event that they select to choose in.
Particulars of how to do that are set out within the letters which have been despatched to these affected.
