Simon Harris: Warning about free smear tests had 'nothing new in it' and email was not passed on

A blunt warning from the National Screening Service (NSS) to the health minister about the significant risks that would arise from offering free out-of-cycle smear tests had “nothing new in it” and was not passed on to him at the time, Simon Harris has told the health committee.

“There was nothing in it that they [senior department officials] hadn’t already identified. These were readily identifiable risks,” he said. As a consequence, the email of April 28, 2018, hadn’t been passed on to him.