Woman’s smear test left unchecked at Portsmouth hospital

An investigation is taking place at a hospital after a woman was told her smear test was never analysed – with the mistake only being discovered a year later.

Kerry McDermott, from Whitely, in Hampshire, went for a cervical screening at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth in July 2024.

But she received a letter in July this year that said her sample was never tested as it was placed in an out-of-date vial.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) said most tests were taken and processed without issues, but there could be “isolated incidents which affect our patient’s experience”.

The 37-year-old said the situation had left her feeling “very angry”, particularly as she had not been told how the mistake occurred.

“It was a bit of a shock, and it wasn’t until I got a phone call from one of the nurses from the gynaecology department, just checking in to see if I had received the letter that it really hit home,” she said.

“I would hope that if there was anything wrong within that year my body would have shown signs and symptoms, but I don’t know that for a fact, so within that year something very serious could have gone wrong and they’re only just realising it now.”

Ms McDermott said she hoped the trust could “learn from their mistakes and ultimately stop this from happening to other people”.

She said the situation had left her “feeling very angry about the whole experience” and she had now lost trust in the hospital, where she had been referred by her GP.

The letter she received in July this year told her the smear test results were rejected and the test never took place.

She said she had since been told the vial in which the sample was placed was out of date, which meant it was not processed by the lab.

An investigation is now under way to look at how the sample was placed in a vial that was incorrectly labelled and why it has taken a year to reveal the failing.

Ms McDermott said the hospital had told her it would keep her informed of its findings, which might not be available until the end of the year.

A trust spokesperson said: “Like all trusts, we routinely review our work to help identify ways we can improve and if any errors are identified, we work with those patients to apologise and discuss their options which could include repeating the test.”

The spokesperson added that anyone with concerns about their test results, or who had been waiting longer than they were told it should take, could contact the team providing their care or speak with their GP.