Harris orders review of screening service

CervicalCheck is to undergo an external review following revelations that it took three years to notify a woman with terminal cancer of missed abnormalities in her initial screen.

The national screening service is also writing to the doctors of women who may have had cancers missed by the US firm that analyses smear tests on behalf of Cervicalcheck.

The doctors are being asked to confirm that the women, estimated at 15, have been informed that they were part of a review following a cancer diagnosis. The review examined their screening history and found initial screens had failed to pick up precancerous abnormalities.