We are now in 2024, and we know that at

least one woman has died as a result.

Let me tell members about Christine from Fife. She received a letter on 3 December 2023 saying that she had had only a partial hysterectomy and that she had been wrongly excluded from the cervical screening programme for 30 years. She immediately contacted her general practice surgery, which had no idea what was happening and could not provide her with a smear test. Thanks to the efforts of a practice nurse, she has now received an urgent referral to a consultant gynaecologist. Her appointment is on 14 February.

Why was Christine not notified before, in August 2021, as was promised by the minister? Why is she having to wait a further two and a half months to be seen? During the three-year delay, how many women have contracted cervical cancer? How many more cases have still to be reviewed? How much longer will it take for the Government to treat women’s health seriously?