Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 15 September 2021 (Hybrid)
15 Sep 2021 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Cervical Screening (Update)
The matter remains, unfortunately, a huge scandal. Concerns were raised in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2016, there were 29 inappropriate exclusions and in 2017, there were 11 inappropriate exclusions. Why were all the cases of women who were wrongly excluded from cervical cancer screening not picked up after the 2016 audit or, indeed, after the 2017 audit? Why did we have to force that information from the Government using freedom of information requests? Why did we need to wait until another case was discovered in December 2020 for that wider review? On what basis does the minister say it was believed that all issues were resolved, when clearly they were not and recommendations were ignored?
After her previous statement, I specifically asked the minister why the issue was not picked up by previous audits and her response was that
“no cases were found through that national audit system until 2020”.—[Official Report, 24 June 2021; c 30.]
That is patently inaccurate, given the previous audits. I hope that the minister will correct the parliamentary record.
However, more important is that we will never know whether that gross oversight contributed to the deaths of three women who deserved so much better. Will the minister apologise for the Scottish Government’s failure and assure the chamber that it will never happen again?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a statement by Maree Todd on an update on cervical screening. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so t...
The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport (Maree Todd)
SNP
In June, I informed Parliament of a serious incident in the cervical screening programme. I am here to set out how we continue to address that issue and to r...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Thank you, minister. I appreciate the importance and sensitivity of the statement, although I am slightly concerned that we have run over time, which will ea...
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. I echo her remarks that the cervical screening programme remains the best way to prevent cervical ca...
Maree Todd
SNP
I apologise—my team has just contacted me to say that I inadvertently said that 2,000 records were to be reviewed, when I should have said 200,000. The wome...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
The matter remains, unfortunately, a huge scandal. Concerns were raised in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2016, there were 29 inappropriate exclusions and in 2017, ...
Maree Todd
SNP
The audits, incidents and reviews that previously took place were all more limited in scope, with very different starting points from the current incident an...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the Scottish Government continue to provide funding to the charity Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to provide support to women who have been affected and the...
Maree Todd
SNP
Yes—absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust’s helpline will remain open and available for anyone who is concerned about or affected by...
Sandesh Gulhane (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Cervical screening is safe, effective and saves women’s lives. I urge women, or anyone with a uterus, please, not to lose confidence but to attend the screen...
Maree Todd
SNP
I confirm that, as soon as the issue was discovered, immediate steps were taken to ensure that no one else was excluded in error from the programme. Cervical...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
I appreciate the minister’s update on this serious situation, but my question is about the future of cervical cancer testing in general. Could the minister g...
Maree Todd
SNP
Self-sampling is still a relatively new innovation, and the United Kingdom national screening committee—NSC—has not yet recommended that self-sampling be inc...
Carol Mochan (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I am glad that the Government is finally instituting the Healthcare Improvement Scotland review that Scottish Labour asked for, but will the minister clarify...
Maree Todd
SNP
As I said, we have commissioned a review by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which has a long track record in improving quality and safety in Scotland, to lo...
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
SNP
I appreciate that it is a sensitive and difficult subject, but can the minister tell us what actions have been taken to ensure that cervical screening is ful...
Maree Todd
SNP
That is an excellent question, because we know that participating in the cancer screening programme is one of the best ways to detect cancer early. That is w...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
The Government waited until after the election in June, and for months after it had discovered that there was a problem, to tell Parliament that a woman had ...
Maree Todd
SNP
Screening systems are inherently complex and they require complex quality assurance mechanisms. We can anticipate that there will always be incidents in whic...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I have four members who still want to ask a question and less than two and a half minutes in which to bring them in. I would appreciate brief questions and v...
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
Will the minister reiterate what work is being carried out to investigate any issues prior to 1997?
Maree Todd
SNP
As I said in my statement, the work to review the pre-1997 records concluded at the end of July. Letters were issued by 18 August to 170 individuals who were...
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
We have heard a lot about the development of the review of the records of the 200,000 women who have been permanently excluded from the screening programme. ...
Maree Todd
SNP
The first point to stress is that the overwhelming majority of permanent exclusions will be correct. As I said in my statement, around 95 per cent of hystere...
Gillian Mackay (Central Scotland) (Green)
Green
For those who find themselves needing further treatment, that could be a traumatising event. What other, wider support, such as mental health support, is ava...
Maree Todd
SNP
We have made extra money available to health boards to ensure that gynaecology clinics are available, and we have put extra money into the Jo’s Cervical Canc...
Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
The minister outlined that the urgent review uncovered that some exclusions had been wrongly applied across Scotland. Can she outline whether there are furth...
Maree Todd
SNP
I confirmed in my answer to Sandesh Gulhane that, as soon as the issue was discovered, immediate steps were taken to ensure that no one else was excluded fro...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We have slightly overrun but, given the nature of the topic under discussion, I wanted to allow as many members as possible to ask a question.