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| Some of the women who were not invited for screening have since developed cancer |
sky.com
Up to 270 women may have had their "lives shortened" after the NHS failed to invite them to breast screenings, the Health Secretary has said.
Jeremy Hunt made the announcement as he said the government will order an independent review into NHS breast cancer screening after hundreds of thousands of women were not invited for screening.
Some of the women have since developed cancer.
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Making a statement to the Commons, Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said there could be 135 and 270 women who "had their lives shortened as a result", adding it was "unlikely to be more than this range and may be considerably less".
Mr Hunt apologised "wholeheartedly and unreservedly for the suffering caused".
The issue is understood to have affected women awaiting their final screening.
The failure occurred because of IT issues which happened after 2009 and was discovered in January this year.
Around 450,000 women in England were not invited to screenings. Of these, 150,000 have died since and the remaining 300,000 are aged in their 70s.
Women in England between the ages of 50 and 70 are currently automatically invited for breast cancer screening every three years.
They should receive their final invitation between their 68th and and 71st birthday.
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Health