She said: "I feel so disappointed. I don’t know if I’m going to survive. I would like an explanation from somebody why this happened, why I didn’t get a recall...why didn’t they pick up that I hadn’t had a mammogram? That I was one of those people? "They shouldn’t have covered it up for so long. They obviously knew about it for some time and they shouldn’t have covered it up for so long. "It was no surprise to me that it had happened. It was a surprise they kept it quiet. They must have known. "I feel absolutely let down. I worked for the national health service all my life, I was a nurse. "I would like the nhs to come and speak to me. It was their problem. I don’t understand how a computer can not function." Charities said they were shocked by the “colossal failure” by breast cancer screening services and the “shocking incompetence” which allowed the deadly errors to go undetected for so long. More than 300,000 women, now in their 70s, face a wait of up to a month to find out if they are affected by the scandal, with waits of up to six months to obtain mammograms. Jeremy Hunt yesterday said up to 270 women may have died as a result of of the error, which meant up to 450,000 women eligible for breast screening in the last decade were not invited for scans Estimates suggest that around 6,000 of these women would have been detected as suffering from cancer, had they undergone scans. The Health and Social Care Secretary yesterday told the Commons the situation would be “incredibly upsetting” for those affected, which are likely to include the terminally ill and families of those who have died. And he said families would find it “totally devastating” to learn that they had lost or would lose a loved one as a result of “administrative incompetence”. Brian Gough, whose wife Trixie died of breast cancer in 2015, last night said he felt “sick” to realise that she might have been saved if she had been offered the scan she should have been offered in 2009. The 77-year-old called on ministers to explain how the situation could have been allowed. “I'm amazed that it has taken them the best part of a decade to spot the problem. It's extraordinary. There are thousands of real people involved in this, people like Trixie, who didn't deserve to lose their lives,” he said. Mrs Gough was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer after finding a small lump in her breast in late 2010. She rushed to her GP, and was admitted for treatment at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, but died five years later, despite treatment. Yesterday it emerged that Public Health England (PHE) which oversees the breast cancer programme, became aware of the potential problems in mid-January, but advised health officials that the risk to patients was limited. Health ministers were told about the fiasco more than six weeks ago - but advised not to make the matter public until it could set up a helpline and a system of checks for those affected. Women in England between the ages of 50 and 70 are currently automatically invited for breast cancer screening every three years. This means they should receive their final invitation between their 68th and before their 71st birthday. But a computer error was programmed into the system in 2009, when trials about extending the age range further began. As a result, women who had reached their 70th birthday were excluded from the system, meaning that up to 450,000 never received an invitation for their final scan. The blunders were only detected almost a decade later, when PHE attempted to upgrade its computer systems. Mr Hunt said: "Many families will be deeply disturbed by these revelations, not least because there will be some people who receive a letter having had a recent diagnosis of breast cancer. We must also recognise that there may be some who receive a letter having had a recent terminal diagnosis.” "For them and others, it is incredibly upsetting to know that you did not receive an invitation for screening at the correct time, and totally devastating to hear you may have lost or be about to lose a loved one because of administrative incompetence. So on behalf of the government, Public Health England and the NHS I apologise wholeheartedly and unreservedly for the suffering caused.” Offering an apology to all affected, he said families would be offered advice and compensation, where missed scans were found to have caused deaths. His comments raise questions over the role of PHE, the agency led by Duncan Selbie, which has overseen the cancer screening programme since 2013. Mr Hunt said letters to women affected would be sent out “as quickly as we possibly can” with 65,000 sent out this week. But he admitted thousands more women would be left in limbo, waiting to see if they received a letter from the authorities. He told the Commons: "We thought it was important to come to the House as soon as possible to inform the House this was happening without any delay. "That's why we're making this announcement today but that does mean there is going to be a period of a few weeks while people will have to wait to see if they get one of those letters, and we fully appreciate that will cause a lot of worry to the women involved." An independent review is examining how the failing occured - and how assurance systems run by PHE failed to spot that almost half a million women had not been offered basic checks. Mr Hunt said the review will also examine whether any other screening programmes could be affected by the errors, though he said current advice was that the failings did not extend beyond breast cancer. The errors affect women who were due to be invited for their final scan between 2009 and January of this year, as they reached the age of 70. Ministers said the blunders are contained to the system in England, although they could affect women who have since moved to Scotland or Wales.

Up to 270 women may have died as a result of a major NHS computer error which saw 450,000 denied breast cancer screening.