AQW 49001/22-27


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 18/06/2026
Answered On Date: 09/07/2026
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health (i) to detail the methodology used to determine whether a statutory public inquiry into cervical screening failures should be established; and (ii) whether the evidence considered was drawn from all Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCT), or was limited to specific HSCT areas.


Answer:
Concerns had been raised with the cervical screening programme operated by the Southern Trust. In response, the Southern Trust and Public Health Agency (PHA) commissioned a number of reports in an attempt to assess the extent of any failures in delivery of the cervical screening programme.
Some of these reports appeared to contradict each other and as a result I asked Professor Sir Frank Atherton, previously the Chief Medical Officer in Wales, and completely independent of the cervical screening programme in Northern Ireland, to undertake a review of all the work completed to date in relation to the Southern Trust’s cervical screening service and provide his expert advice directly to me.
As part of his Terms of Reference (ToR), I asked him to advise me on whether/if a statutory public inquiry may provide additional significant assessment to the questions included within the ToR. The methodology for completing his report was left to Sir Frank to determine.
In completing his report, Sir Frank met directly with the current clinical and managerial leaders in the organisations responsible for policy, oversight and delivery of the NI Cervical Screening Programme, as well as other interested parties who indicated they would wish to meet him.
I received Sir Frank’s report at the end of April 2026 which I carefully considered. I wanted to understand what happened, why it happened, who was responsible and what can be done to prevent it happening again. I believe Sir Frank’s report provided that information and, on that basis, decided not to initiate a statutory public inquiry.