Women caught in breast cancer screening fails were all harmed - patient

Te Whatu Ora had not sent a personal apology since the review. Photo / 123rf

Rowan Quinn for RNZ

One of the women diagnosed with cancer after breast screening failures in Wellington says they were all harmed, no matter what a review says.

A review released this week found screening was delayed for thousands of women between 2017 and 2021.

Fifty-nine were diagnosed with cancer, but the review found only 10 “may” have suffered harm as a result - that is, been diagnosed late enough that their condition may have worsened.

One of the women found to have cancer had her first mammogram four months late and now has secondary cancer.

Despite the report’s definition, she believed they had all been harmed.

Even though the medical aspect was difficult to prove, there was no doubt they were harmed psychologically, she said.

“All of us are looking back and going ‘what if’ and that’s a significant psychological harm,” she said.

“What if I’d had that intervention earlier? Perhaps I wouldn’t have had cancer that travelled into my lymph nodes and around my body. There is always that question.”

The mother of two school aged children paid $35,000 to fund her own treatment for secondary cancer because of delays in the public system.

She said that had harmed her financially and also impacted on the wellbeing of her family.

And the delayed mammogram was just the start of delays she faced every step of the way.

“What we need to appreciate here is that cancer is a progressive, invasive disease and time is of the essence,” she said.

Te Whatu Ora had not sent a personal apology since the review - just an email warning that the review was coming out and it might be distressing.

But, she should have been called and all the patients should have had a verbal apology, she said.

Te Whatu Ora said it had sent written apologies to all of the women and verbal apologies to those deemed potentially harmed.

In a statement to RNZ, Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley interim lead for hospital and specialist services Jamie Duncan said he could not begin to imagine the distress and trauma the patients and their whānau had experienced.

“While our review has not been able to find with any certainty what impact the delays have had on people we acknowledge the potential physical, mental, and emotional effects that the delays may have had and we apologise again for what these people and their whānau have experienced,” he said.

The service was considering whether the woman would be refunded for her private treatment.

The woman said she had seen little evidence of change since her screening delay about five years ago.

“This report has proposed some changes going forward but has glaringly neglected the issue of restorative justice for those of us whose lives have been profoundly affected,” she said.

There needed to be a national system for how to triage patients with cancer or suspected cancer and better coordination between hospitals, she said.

“The post code lottery is real and people are being harmed physically, emotionally and financially because of it,” she said.

A second Te Whatu Ora review released last week - of national screening services - recommended 26 changes, including a national register to try to notify and screen all women faster.