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Family of woman who died after 'misread' smear test join calls for inquiry

Lyndsey TelfordReporter, BBC News NI
Family handout Louise Corbett Gibbons. She has shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a black graduation cap and green and black robes.Family handout
Louise died about a month after receiving her cancer diagnosis

The family of a 24-year-old woman who died after her smear test was said to have been misread has supported calls for a public inquiry into Northern Ireland's cervical screening service.

Louise Corbett Gibbons, from near Katesbridge in County Down, died from cervical cancer in 2008.

Her death is not linked to the cervical screening scandal involving the Southern Health Trust but her widower Neville Gibbons and aunt Joy Fairley joined campaigners to mark three years since those issues came to light.

The Southern Trust scandal led to 17,500 women being approached to have their smear tests rechecked as part of a major review of screening dating back to 2008.

Family members of Louise Corbett Gibbons. L-R Jim Corbett, uncle, Joy Fairley, aunt, and widower Neville Gibbons.
Louise's loved ones are supporting calls for an inquiry into cervical screening services

Campaigners calling themselves the Ladies with Letters have since been calling for a statutory public inquiry into what went wrong.

They also argue that while the scandal involved the Southern Trust, other health trusts in Northern Ireland could have been affected.

Gibbons told BBC News NI that when Louise received her diagnosis she was told she would "be gone within the month".

He said the pair, who had been together for eight years, got married the following week. Louise died three weeks later.

He said the wedding was "the saddest day of my life".

"Like, watching your wife in a wheelchair and knowing she's going to be dead in a few weeks," he said.

"My mind wasn't good for a very long time."

Neville Gibbons. He has short ginger hair, wearing a black hoodie.
Neville Gibbons was widowed three weeks after marrying Louise

He said when the Southern Trust screening scandal came to light, it brought back many difficult memories.

He said Louise's family had been told that her smear had been misread but that "she would have passed away anyway".

That was something he said the family could not accept.

"I think she was never given the chance to start off with," he said.

Louise was a patient of the Belfast Health Trust. BBC News NI has written to the trust for comment.

Ladies with Letters Three women and one man stand on the steps of Stormont. One woman is wearing a green blouse, another is wearing a white and blue patterned blouse, and the third woman is wearing a denim dress with a navy cardigan. The man is wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and red tie.Ladies with Letters
Enda McGarrity, pictured with campaigners Heather Thompson (left) and Tracey Bell, says there is a need for further investigation

Enda McGarrity, a solicitor for the Ladies with Letters, said there were "many women" from outside the Southern Trust who had been affected by cervical screening issues.

He said the renewed call by the Ladies with Letters for a public inquiry therefore went beyond the Southern Trust, which he said had "illuminated things much more clearly".

"But there was a cervical screening programme throughout Northern Ireland during that period," he said.

"So at the very least, there should be an investigation into whether these issues were replicated in other trusts.

"At this stage it's an issue where there is a concern that there's a link between those and how the cervical screening programme actually performed throughout those years and at the least it merits further investigation."

Getty Images Nurse/doctor in purple scrubs holding a smear test kit.Getty Images
The Southern Trust scandal led to 17,500 women being approached to have their smear tests rechecked

Earlier this year, former Health Minister Mike Nesbitt ruled out a public inquiry into failings in Northern Ireland's cervical screening service.

Heather Thompson and Tracey Bell were among the Ladies with Letters who took to the steps of Stormont on Tuesday, alongside a number of cross-party assembly members, to renew their calls for a public inquiry.

Thompson said that when the group became aware of Louise's death, it hit members "very hard".

She said the group feared there could be "other ladies out there" with similar experiences.

Tracey Bell said the group was to meet Health Minister Robbie Butler next month and that it was hopeful he would "listen carefully to the experiences of women and families affected" and "recognise why this matter could not be considered closed".