SCOTTISH Labour accused the SNP of “taking its eye off the ball” on the cervical cancer screening disaster today as new evidence suggested that the issue could have been uncovered years earlier.

In June, Public Health Minister Maree Todd admitted that hundreds of women who had undergone partial hysterectomies had been excluded from Scotland’s cervical cancer screening programme. 

The minister said that at least one woman who had been wrongfully excluded had died of cervical cancer and that the true number of women excluded could be far higher.

Under freedom of information legislation, Scottish Labour has now obtained documents which show that concerns about wrongful exclusions had been noted in 2016 and that scores of women had been placed back into the programme at that time.

The discovery led to two reviews into the cervical cancer screening programme, but the documents indicate that NHS officials blamed the exclusion on software faults and human error.

Scottish Labour said that the documents represent “clear evidence of the SNP government’s failure to protect the health and well-being of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable women.”

The opposition party’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “By taking their eye off the ball, the government has allowed the true scale of this scandal to be hidden for many more years than need be.

“Lives have been put at risk, and tragically at least one life has been lost. 

“When the minister makes her statement to the parliament this week, she must say why this scandal was not resolved when suspicions were raised so many years ago.”

Ministers are expected to give an update on the scandal to Holyrood tomorrow.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “In the course of previous investigations into data discrepancies within the screening system, a number of incorrect exclusions were discovered. Every case identified at the time was rigorously reviewed, and it was believed that all errors had been found and resolved.

 “Since March 2021, our priority has been to review as quickly as possible the records of those who appear to have had subtotal hysterectomies and been wrongly excluded. However, given the incidents that have subsequently come to light, it is clear that we must also review whether opportunities were missed that would have allowed us to understand the full scope of the issue earlier.

 “The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport will update Parliament on this on Wednesday (15 September) and the wider work to manage the issue of inappropriate exclusions.”