Thousands of people left out of a pilot bowel cancer screening programme are to get an apology.
Photo: 123rf
The Ministry of Health yesterday released updated figures showing that up to 15,000 eligible Waitematā residents missed out between 2011 and 2017.
That was 12,500 more people than it initially revealed.
The Ministry cross-refenced the screening data with the cancer registry and found at least 30 people who had missed out on the screening developed cancer. Screening could potentially have picked up the sickness earlier.
The Ministry said it was now sending out apology letters to those patients, but it would take some time because it was a relatively big group.
The Ministry said it was too soon to know if screening would have made a difference for them.
The head of the Ministry's screening unit, Jane O'Hallahan, said many people eligible for screening had moved without updating their details with their new GP.
She said the initial address updates problem had since been fixed.
Southern DHB bowel screening clinical lead Jason Hill said the problems were a real concern, but he hoped they had been sorted.
He reiterated the importance of people making sure their contact details are up to date with their GP
The Health Ministry is accepting responsibility for the errors. It says it failed people, but the problems have since been fixed and what happened should not dent confidence in national screening.
Health Minister David Clark said the errors were disappointing and concerning. He has announced an independent review of the national screening programme.