The decision follows analysis by Public Health England (PHE) dating back to 2009, which found that a number of invitations for a final test had not been sent out to women, between their 68th and 71st birthday. The total number of older women affected since 2009 is estimated to be approximately 450,000.

The routine NHS breast screening programme invites more than 2.5 million women every year for a test, with women between the ages of 50 to 70 receiving a screen every 3 years up to their 71st birthday. Around 2 million women take up the offer.

The problem was identified in January 2018 whilst reviewing the progress of the age extension trial (AgeX). It then became apparent that a similar impact has resulted from long term problems with the routine programme as well. In addition, some local services have not invited everyone for a final screen in the 3 years before their 71st birthday.

PHE has carried out a thorough investigation including a detailed analysis of data going back to 2009 and has been advised by experts and clinicians. The fault has now been identified and fixed and women who did not receive their final routine invitation and are registered with a GP are being contacted and offered the opportunity to have a catch up screen. All of these women will be contacted by the end of May 2018. Women can seek advice by calling the helpline on 0800 169 2692. We anticipate that all rescreens will be completed by the end of October 2018 and extra capacity is being identified so that routine screening will not be affected.

Dr Jenny Harries, PHE Deputy Medical Director said:

On behalf of NHS breast screening services, we apologise to the women affected and we are writing to them to offer a catch-up screening appointment. They and their families’ wellbeing is our top priority and we are very sorry for these faults in the system.

A complex IT problem with the breast screening invitation system has led to some women not being invited for their final screen between their 68th and 71st birthdays. We have carried out urgent work to identify the problem and have fixed it. Additional failsafe systems have been introduced to ensure the problem does not reoccur.

The NHS breast screening programme is a world leading prevention service for women in England detecting around 18,400 cancers per year and saving 1,300 lives.

Local breast screening services are currently working closely with NHS England and PHE to ensure that all of the women affected are contacted and offered the opportunity for a screen.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned an independent review of the NHS breast screening programme to look at issues, including its processes, IT systems and further changes and improvements that can be made to the system to minimise the risk of any repetition of this incident.

The review will be chaired by Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support and Professor Martin Gore, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Professor of Cancer Medicine at The Royal Marsden, and is expected to report in 6 months.

1. It is estimated that 450,000 women since 2009 were not invited for a screen and 309,000 women were not invited for a screen and are alive.

2. The long term clinical research trial called AgeX, led by Oxford University, is ongoing to assess reliably the risks and benefits of offering an extra screen to women aged 71 to 73 and between 47 to 49 years.

3. All women that were not sent an invitation for their final screen will be given the opportunity for a new screening appointment. All women under 72 years old who are affected will receive an appointment letter informing them of their time and date. Women aged 72 years old and above will be able to contact a dedicated helpline to discuss whether a screen could benefit them.

4. There are 79 local NHS breast screening services across the country. Women are routinely screened every three years, with the number of women invited per screening service ranging from 25,738 to 254,645.

5. An independent panel concluded in 2012 that, while routine breast screening at ages 50 to 70 confers significant benefit to UK women, the advantages and disadvantages of starting breast screening at younger or older ages were uncertain. A clinical trial, AgeX led by Oxford University, is ongoing to assess reliably the risks and benefits of offering an extra screen to women aged 71 to 73 and between 47 to 49 years.

6. The total number of women screened in 2016 to 2017 was 2.2 million (2,199,342). The number of women invited was 2.9 million (2,959,979).

7. In developing its response to this issue, PHE consulted an expert clinical group including radiologists, consultant breast surgeons, oncologists and epidemiologists.

Stuart is a GMC-registered physician who trained in General Medicine and General Practice. He spent many years working in senior leadership roles at Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Norgine, Takeda and UCB.

He founded Vermilion Life Sciences, which aims to improve patient access to medicines by reducing development times and costs of new medicines.

Stuart is a:

• board trustee of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine
• professional member of the board of the Human Tissue Authority

He has also worked as an external ‘champion’ for the Office for Life Sciences’ Accelerated Access Review.

This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Governance for Public Appointments. It has been made on merit and political activity played no part in the decision process. During the appointments process, Stuart has not declared any political activity.

The post is for up to 2 days a week and has a salary of £52,540 a year.

Stuart said:

I am honoured and excited to have been selected as the Chair of ACCEA. I aim to rapidly learn about the operation of the scheme and how it both rewards and incentivises the highest quality research, care and outcomes that provide important benefits for patients and public health.

I look forward to meeting my new colleagues and learning from them, as we work together to investigate how to maximise the positive impact of the Awards.

We are pleased to announce that Alpa Parmar and Beverley Thompson-Brown have been appointed by the Lord Chancellor in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice as non-judicial members of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales for a period of 3 years.

Alpa Parmar is a Socio-Legal Scholar of Criminal Justice at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford who specialises in the intersections of race and criminal justice. She has conducted a range of empirical research projects and published on minority ethnic groups and their experiences of the criminal justice process. Alpa was a member of the advisory group for the Restorative Justice Council’s project on the experiences of BAME groups and she served as an academic expert on the Lammy Review. She holds a doctorate from Cambridge University and was previously British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Kings College, London.

Beverley Thompson-Brown has spent over 30 years working in the criminal justice sector initially as a probation officer in London. She was Director for Race, Prisons and Resettlement Services at NACRO for 10 years and is currently an Independent consultant having recently worked on a Lammy-related project for HMPPS. She works across the UK, Australia, USA & Canada on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategies. Prior to this, she was a Senior Civil Servant at HMPS and was awarded an OBE for services to Race Equality in 2000. Furthermore, she has been the Chief Executive of Northampton Probation Service.

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales was set up by part four of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary.

The appointments process have been conducted in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice on Ministerial public appointments to public bodies.

Alpa and Beverley have declared no political activity or conflict of interest.

We are pleased to announce that Gabriella Bettiga has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor in consultation with the Lord Chief Justice to be a member of the Tribunal Procedure Committee (TPC) for 3 years. This post is unpaid.

Gabriella Bettiga is a practising immigration and asylum consultant solicitor and accredited at Level 3 Advanced Caseworker. She is a member of the Special Control Review Panel and Chairs the Independent Funding Adjudicator and Independent Cost Assessors at the Legal Aid Agency. Gabriella has researched for SOAS University of London in the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. She is the author for an online newspaper and lecturers regularly on human rights, immigration, asylum and public law.

The Tribunal Procedure Committee (TPC) was established on 19 May 2008 under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCEA). Its purpose is to make rules governing the practice and procedure for the First-tier and Upper Tribunals.

The appointments process has been conducted in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice on Ministerial public appointments to public bodies.

Gabriella has declared no political activity or conflict of interest.