A nurse has accused the NHS of a "cover up" after she and thousands of others fell victim to the biggest cancer scandal in the health service's history.

Patricia Minchin, 75, developed breast cancer after the NHS failed to offer her a screening appointment. The disease has since spread.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health and Social Care Secretary, has admitted 450,000 women could be affected by the scandal and up to 270 may have died as a result. The women should have undergone screening but were not notified.

Mr Hunt blamed a computer algorithm for the error which began in 2009 and went unnoticed for almost a decade.

The apparent IT glitch means that women whose cancer could have been spotted early went on to develop the disease.