AROUND 250 women in Bridgwater and West Somerset could have missed out on breast screening appointments due to an administrative error, according to the area's MP.

Ian Liddell-Grainger has called for the most thorough investigation possible to find the cause of the 'utterly unacceptable' administrative error, which meant thousands of women aged 68 to 71 were not called for final breast screening appointments.

As many as 255 women in his Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency are likely to have missed appointments as a result, Mr Liddell-Grainger said.

“Someone who has been told they have a potentially life-threatening condition naturally looks to – and trusts - the NHS to provide them with all the ongoing care they need,” he said.

“To suddenly discover that a system they trusted in and relied on is in fact affected by a major and pretty fundamental fault comes as a huge emotional shock and merely multiplies the anxieties they are already feeling.”

Now, says Mr Liddell-Grainger, ministers should not only discover what led to the error but put all necessary procedures in place to ensure there is no repeat.

Department of Health and Social Care officials revealed the scale of the communications breakdown last month. At first it was thought as many as 450,000 women were involved.

That figure has now been scaled down to 174,000 but official estimates suggest as many as 75 lives may have been shortened as a result of the missed appointments.

An independent review has now been ordered into the cause, scope, and reporting of the error and will report in November.

In the meantime, all women affected by it have been contacted and offered a follow-up appointment.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was glad to see officials acting quickly and decisively to put the screening programme back on track.

“At the same time we cannot ignore the statistics which suggest some women’s lives may well have been shortened as a result of something going wrong with what should be one of the most reliable routine screening programmes the NHS runs,” he said.

“It is absolutely vital that the review is ruthlessly forensic in its approach.

"We need to uncover all the whys and the wherefores and take all necessary steps to ensure that a tragic error like this does not recur.”