24th September, 2026 | News

NHS Trust to Review 4,500 Breast Cancer Cases After Patient Care Failings

An NHS trust in County Durham is preparing to review up to 4,500 breast cancer cases dating back to 2015 after an investigation found that hundreds of patients may have suffered harm during treatment.

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has already reviewed 539 cases and found that around 20 women underwent unnecessary mastectomies.

Review to Cover More Than a Decade of Breast Cancer Care

The trust said it will complete reviews already under way covering patients treated between January 2023 and February 2025.

It will then review cases one year at a time, beginning with patients treated in 2022 and working backwards towards 2015.

The trust said the findings from each period will be carefully considered before it decides whether to proceed to the next year.

If the review eventually reaches 2015, approximately 4,500 patient cases could be examined.

Board papers indicate that the process could take as long as five years, meaning some patients treated in 2015 may not have their cases reviewed until 2031.

Trust Apologises for Failings

The decision was unanimously approved during an extraordinary public meeting on Thursday, where the trust board heard from women affected by the failings, as well as considering patient and public views, independent clinical advice and other options.

Chief executive Steve Russell apologised for the impact of the problems in the trust’s breast services.

He said the organisation had heard about the “profound and lasting impact” the failings had caused to women and their families.

Russell acknowledged that the trust should have listened more carefully, asked more questions and acted sooner.

Patients Can Choose Not to Have Their Cases Reviewed

The trust said women identified as potentially affected will be contacted directly.

However, patients will also have the option of declining a review of their care if they do not want to revisit their treatment history.

The trust warned that the wider review could itself cause worry and distress among former patients and their families.

Some women who were not previously offered reconstructive surgery may also now be given that option.

Russell said the trust would provide information, clinical follow-up and support to patients where concerns about their care are identified.

Breast Cancer Support Group Calls for Further Investigation

Members of the Pink Justice Network, an online support group for women who received breast cancer treatment from the trust, attended the meeting.

The group has around 150 members and is run by Nadeen Lister and Amelia Green.

Lister said she was surprised and upset by the potential scale of the review, particularly the possibility that as many as 4,500 cases could eventually be examined.

She said she understood that some patients may not want to know whether their treatment caused them harm, but argued that the trust should complete the review and establish the full scale of the problem.

Calls for a Public Inquiry

Jacqueline Holmes, a member of the Pink Justice Network, called for a public inquiry rather than relying solely on an internal trust review.

Holmes’ daughter, Michaela Holmes, died aged 35 in 2009 after receiving chemotherapy following a breast cancer diagnosis.

She questioned whether the trust had sufficient staff to carry out the extensive review and said a government-led public inquiry would provide a different approach to examining what happened.

Gill Hunt, the trust’s lead nurse, said the organisation would seek to recruit additional specialists to assist with the reviews where possible.

NHS Trust Says Support Will Continue

The trust said it recognised the difficult balance between identifying potential harm and avoiding unnecessary distress for patients who may not want their previous treatment revisited.

Russell said the organisation could not change what had happened but would continue to listen to affected women, provide support and work to ensure the next stage of the review was handled properly.

The review is expected to provide a clearer picture of the extent of the failings in breast cancer services at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.