Debate contribution: Cervical Screening Scandal Inquiry

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 3 November 2025.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

3 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Cervical Screening Scandal Inquiry

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5213644

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I, too, welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. We support the motion and the amendment; indeed, I feel privileged to listen to Members' testimonies. It is so important that, as elected reps, we share our life experiences and show those who are going through this our empathy, so thank you very much. It is not easy. I begin by acknowledging the incredible women who are, I know, listening to today's debate online; they have been in touch. The Ladies with Letters campaigners have fought tirelessly to demand transparency and accountability in a scandal that has caused untold suffering. In the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area, 17,500 women have had their smear tests misread, but it is not just a Southern Trust issue. The impact stretches across Northern Ireland. Many women in the Western Health and Social Care Trust area have had misread tests, and I know of at least six women who have developed cancer because of that. The consequences of that failure are truly devastating and incredibly personal. I will share the story of one constituent who was diagnosed with stage 1A1 cervical cancer in late 2016. I supported her recently at her disclosure meeting and serious adverse incident (SAI) meeting. To say that that was traumatic would be a complete understatement, but it is so important that she could see and hear the truth, with the smear tests that had been misread on several occasions laid out in front of her. It did not happen because she did not go to have her smear test: she went. She did everything right, but they were misread time and time again. She had a full hysterectomy on 13 April 2017 while raising young children. She went through surgical menopause without any support. The trauma, loss and lack of care that she faced are a damning indictment of how little urgency there has been in women's healthcare. In 2019, she asked for her smear test to be reread. That review revealed that the test had been incorrectly read multiple times, as I said. Years of her life were filled with fear, treatment, recovery and the anguish of surgical menopause. It could all have been avoided. She was not treated with understanding or compassion during the process. She did not even get counselling. Like many women seeking answers, she felt as though she was on trial, being questioned and doubted while simply trying to uncover the truth. That is utterly heartbreaking but all too common, emphasising the additional damage caused by the failings in the system. She is still fighting for the truth. We must never forget that behind every statistic is a life, a family and a story of courage. The women have had to navigate trauma, health scares and the failings of the very system that should have protected them. Through it all, many have shown extraordinary bravery — attending meetings, confronting the trust and demanding accountability — despite the emotional toll and turmoil. The Ladies with Letters campaigners are a testament to that courage. They refuse to accept that women's lives should be jeopardised by negligence and systemic failure. Their work has shone a light on a scandal that has otherwise remained hidden. For those reasons, I call for a statutory public inquiry. We need a full investigation, not a partial review or another set of internal meetings but an independent, transparent process that uncovers the truth. We need to know how it happened; why warnings were missed; why errors went unchallenged for years; and why women were left to face the consequences alone. Justice and transparency are not just for the women affected but for all of us, because the credibility of our health system is at stake. Minister, you have continued to insist that a women's health action plan is sufficient: let me be clear that it is not.

Action plans are intentions; strategies are commitments.

653 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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