Member's statement: Cervical Screening Scandal
Member's statement by Mrs Michelle Guy on .
- MLA
- Mrs Michelle Guy
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 6 October 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Cervical Screening Scandal
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5776552
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The cervical screening scandal in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust is a story of failure. Three years ago, news of the scandal broke when 17,500 women received a letter to tell them that their cervical screening results were being reviewed. It is hard to convey the impact of receiving that letter. Before opening it, those women knew only that they had done the right thing: they had gone for their smear, received the all-clear and carried on with their lives. Then they opened that letter and experienced shock, fear, concern and uncertainty. That letter was not the culprit but the messenger. The failures were systemic and extended across 13 years. Two women died after their cervical smears were read incorrectly. Lynsey Courtney and Erin Harbinson were young women and mothers. Their lives were cut tragically short. I say this to their families: I am desperately sorry for your loss; no words can ever fully convey the pain of losing someone you love in those circumstances. There must, however, be accountability. Six reports have been produced, and there have been reviews, recommendations and commitments, but, three years on, women and families are still waiting for accountability, transparency and the answers that they deserve. Let us not forget the women who survived: women went through cancer treatment — surgery, chemotherapy and other invasive and deeply personal procedures. Those experiences may have been avoided had the system worked as it should. I make a direct appeal to Minister Butler to act: act not simply as a Minister and a departmental representative but as a father and husband. Minister, put yourself in the shoes of those women and their families. Those women deserve more than sympathy, meetings and photo ops; they deserve answers and accountability. That is why I am joining Ladies with Letters and MLAs from across the Chamber to call on you, Minister, to deliver a statutory public inquiry for Lynsey, Erin and the 17,500 women affected by the scandal. We owe them nothing less.
335 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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