Health secretary has warned of a possible 270 deaths due to an apparent IT error, but experts say the numbers do not stack up
Jeremy Hunt has described the failure of the breast screening programme to invite some older women for a mammogram in apocalyptic terms, warning of a possible 270 deaths and causing huge alarm among women and their families. He is blaming the body that has “oversight” of the NHS screening programme – now Public Health England – for what is described as a disastrous computer error that meant 450,000 women did not get vital letters calling them in.
But the numbers do not stack up, say some experts with inside knowledge. Both the mortality figures and the number of those affected are now in dispute, and the health secretary’s rhetoric is beginning to look overheated in the light of an issue officials have been wrangling over and trying to understand since January.
Related: Breast cancer screening helpline inundated with calls
Related: In the NHS breast-screening scandal, first priority must be the women | Philippa Whitford
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