The Cervical Cytology Review has been completed, and two reports have now been published by the Southern Trust and the Public Health Agency.

Ms Guy has said: “These reports identify both individual and system wide failings, and while the Trust says that lessons have been learnt, serious questions remain unanswered and there needs to be accountability.

“We have women who had their tests misread and went on to be diagnosed with cancer. Two women tragically died, some have had to have radical surgery, and others have been diagnosed with other conditions. This is a devastating failure, and the Health Minister must recognise that.

“Having listened to the experiences of some of the incredible women and families affected, there are strong feelings that the impacts are being downplayed. There has also been a fundamental breakdown in trust, which can only be adequately addressed by an independent inquiry.” 

“The Ladies with Letters support and campaign group has been calling for a statutory public inquiry, and I fully back these calls.”   

Speaking on behalf of the Ladies with Letters, Heather Thompson said: “Ladies with Letters are deeply concerned with the contents of the report, but moreover they state that the report has not answered questions that were asked repeatedly over the past year.

“The report is a high-level analysis of cervical screening in the Southern Trust generally which provides little to no scrutiny of what specific errors were made, why they were made and, vitally, why they were missed for a prolonged period of time.

“Ladies with Letters have long held the view that an independent Statutory Public Inquiry is the only avenue for properly scrutinising these systemic failures. We consider that a rigorous investigation which results in effective change is not possible if the investigation is conducted by those responsible for the failures.”