A GOVERNMENT minister has apologised to the hundreds of thousands of women affected by the cancer screening blunder - including hundreds in Cumbria.

Earlier this year it emerged that 174,000 women aged 68-71 across the UK were not invited to their final breast screening as a result of an IT error.

Figures from the Breast Cancer Now charity show that 248 women in Barrow and Furness were impacted due to the error.

There have also been reports that 475 women in the South Lakes were wrongly told they had missed breast cancer check-ups. The Independent Breast Screening Review, an independent inquiry into the blunder, has concluded that the policy on the upper age limit for breast screening had been unclear since 1988.

After attempts were made to clarify how the upper age limit for breast screening should be defined in November 2013 it inadvertently changed the policy, which ultimately impacted on IT systems and caused the error.

In response to this conclusion, the Public Health Minister Steve Brine wrote in a ministerial statement: “I would like to apologise for the distress and suffering caused by this incident.

“It is essential that we take all necessary actions to learn from the mistakes made. We will consider the review’s report and its recommendations in detail over the coming weeks and will provide a substantive response in the new year.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson has also said: “We would like to offer our heartfelt apology to the women affected by this incident, their families and loved ones.

“Since these issues were first uncovered earlier this year, we have put in place a number of improvements to ensure this can never happen again.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said: “We all have close friends and family members who have had cancer, and we know just how difficult a time for them that can be.

“But I can’t even begin to imagine the distress and anxiety this monumental blunder has added to the pain they are already suffering. We need a complete overhaul of the system that is used to sort out who needs screening and the Government need to clarify who is ultimately responsible so a situation like is never allowed to happen again.”