More recent scans have shown "something suspicious" in the woman's liver about which she is to have a consultation shortly, the court heard.

A report examining the scale of outsourcing of smear tests by laboratories contracted to do the work by the HSE will be brought to the Cabinet today.

A woman now terminally ill with cervical cancer, who claims she had a 95% chance of being successfully treated if a smear test taken almost nine years ago was read and reported correctly, has told the High Court she feels "lost in the system" and "of no significance".