Campaigners respond to news that review into County Durham and Darlington breast cancer failings will expand
Nadeen Lister, who leads the Pink Justice Network, has been sharing her thoughts after today's "extraordinary" meeting
Last updated 24th Sep 2026
Hospital bosses in County Durham and Darlington are committing to reviewing the breast cancer care received by about 4,500 women after severe failings were found.
Members of a support group attended an extraordinary public meeting held by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust where the board decided the scope of its look-back exercise.
It has already established that hundreds of patients have come to harm during treatment in the breast unit, with 20 women having been found to have undergone unnecessary mastectomies.
Trust officials agreed that the review will continue looking back in the period between January 2023 and February 2025.
The focus will then move to 2022 and work backwards to 2015, with findings and learning assessed for each year before a decision is made about continuing into the previous year.
After the meeting, trust chief executive Steve Russell said: “We have heard again today about the profound and lasting impact that failings in our breast services have had on women and their families.
“We remain deeply sorry for the harm and distress caused, and for the times when, as a trust, we should have listened more carefully, asked more questions and acted sooner.”
The board meeting was told that about 4,500 women would have their treatment reviewed if the look-back exercise extended to 2015.
Board papers suggested this could take five years – meaning women treated in 2015 could have their cases looked at in 2031.
Gill Hunt, lead nurse for the trust, said they would recruit more specialists to review cases if possible.
Patients have been offered psychological support.
Some women who were not offered reconstructive surgery in the past will have that option now.
The meeting was also told that some patients preferred not to have their cases reviewed in case it brought up traumatic experiences.
Patients concerned about their past treatment have been urged to call a hotline on 0191 333 2126 and need not wait to be contacted by the trust.
Mr Russell said: “Today’s decision means we will look further back, one year at a time.
“We will carefully consider what we find at each stage before deciding what happens next.
“We will continue to listen to women and families and be open about what we find.”
The board said decisions on whether the look-back exercise continued after each year’s assessment would be made in public and would be transparent.
Members of the Pink Justice Network, an online support group for women who have had breast cancer treatment from the trust, attended the meeting.
Afterwards, Nadeen Lister (pictured), who runs the 150-strong group with Amelia Green, said she was “upset” by the scale of the review which could look at 4,500 cases.
She said: “I wasn’t aware of that.
“I got quite emotional when I heard that.
“I thought ‘Oh my God, how many more?’
“I do appreciate that some people might not want to know if they have come to any harm but I still think the trust need to review it and put those numbers on paper.”
Group member Rachel Gray, 41, from Sunderland, was “sick to the stomach” when she was told she had undergone an unnecessary mastectomy when she was 37.
She was under the care of Amir Bhatti, clinical lead for breast surgery at the trust at the time, and was told the only surgical option was a mastectomy.
It was only after she joined the Pink Justice Network and contacted the trust that she found out she should have been offered therapeutic mammoplasty, breast-conserving surgery that removes cancer while reshaping the breast.
She said: “I felt sick to the stomach when the trust told me I’d had my breast removed when it wasn’t needed.
“It’s absolutely appalling and unforgivable.
“They’ve made me go through so much, losing my breast and the impact that had on me, and then of course the reconstruction surgery.
“I wasn’t given any choice at all. I was simply told I needed a mastectomy.”
She added: “I think every woman’s treatment should be investigated now.
“Everybody deserves answers.
“There may be many women who have since passed away who were badly let down and harmed.
“Their loved ones deserve to know. We all deserve answers as to how and why this happened.”
Hayley Collinson, of Hudgell Solicitors – which represents many patients affected, said: “Given the scale of harm revealed so far, we can’t see how the Trust board can come to any other decision than to extend this lookback investigation given the findings of the first batch of cases to have been reviewed, and the high percentage of harm being identified.
“The reality is that any woman who had breast cancer treatment at this Trust from 2015 onwards is now going to be questioning whether their treatment was appropriate and if they were actually harmed.”