HUNDREDS of women had breast cancer screenings pushed back by more than a month due to staff and machinery shortages at York Hospital.

About 4,500 women were booked in for routine screenings in the first week of June, but 675 had their appointments cancelled - many on the day of the examinations - due to what the hospital called “a blip”.

A spokeswoman said the screening service was affected for two days due to a problem with equipment and staff sickness.

 

York Press:

One patient who contacted The Press, but asked not to be named, said she was advised by phone shortly before her appointment that it had been put back by one month.

The hospital spokeswoman said cancellation slots were offered “as soon as possible”, and “appointments are usually booked six weeks in advance”.

She said: “Most patients were able to be contacted and rescheduled and all is back to normal. The team have apologised for the inconvenience.”

The hospital said “attempts were made immediately to contact each patient”, but could not say whether all were successfully alerted prior to the cancellation. She said: “All patients were contacted by phone where there is a telephone number. If not the number was obtained through their GP.” As well as the staff sickness, faulty machinery was the cause of the cancellations, and the hospital confirmed “the x-ray machine broke down requiring a new part and specialist testing before it could be brought back into use”. Debbie Brian, Breast Imaging Unit Manager, said: “This was a most unusual occurrence for North Yorkshire Breast Screening. We apologise for the inconvenience, every effort was made to limit disruption to patients.”