What is a Restoration of Trust Meeting?
We are here to provide a space for someone who would like to talk about their experience of CervicalCheck. We are able to offer this space to people who were affected by the events of 2018.
Hear what 221+ Patient Representative Lyn Fenton has to say about the meetings:
If this is something that you would like to do then we will help you to decide how it can work best for you.
There is no set format for a meeting as they are based on each individual. However, we have a guide process so that you can see how this might work. It would be like this:
Meet Moderator Diane McDonald and hear what she has to say about Restoration of Trust meetings:
A meeting is intended to be for you, it is your space, and your choice.
If you are eligible and you feel we could help you outside of the guide process, please contact us and we will discuss with you what you would like to do and how we can work with you.
We will be open and honest with you at all times. If there is something that we think we cannot achieve, we will talk to you about this and discuss your options with you.
If you are interested in talking to one of our Moderators then you can let us know in writing by Requesting a Meeting.
Once we have received a request we will confirm that you are eligible. After that one of our Moderators will get in contact with you. They will talk to you about what would be most helpful for you and explain what options are available.
This process came about because the Act provides that Restoration of Trust Meetings can be arranged for the purposes of documenting experiences, facilitating discussion and providing information to the appropriate persons in respect of their experience of CervicalCheck.
We will tailor our approach to each individual as much as we possibly can. The guide process set out above can give you an idea of how this might work for you.
Once a Moderator has been appointed they will contact you and discuss what you would like to achieve from a meeting. This could be:
- Telling your story and talking about your experiences
- Documenting your experiences
- Sharing your experiences with other parties
- Requesting information from other parties
- Meeting with other parties to discuss your experiences
If there is something else you wish to achieve from the meetings you can discuss this with the Moderator.
We will be open and honest with you at all times. If there is something that we think we cannot achieve then we will talk to you about this and discuss your options with you.
If you are meeting in person with a Moderator, they will work with you to choose a place that suits you best. A Moderator will travel to a place that works best for you and the Facilitator will arrange to book a neutral venue so you can speak privately with a Moderator.
Importantly, the meetings are entirely independent of the claim and hearing functions of the Tribunal and the Facilitator of the meetings is also independent in the performance of their functions. This is a standalone service and there is no necessity for a woman or her family to have made a claim to the Tribunal in order to avail of it.
The Act sets out that an “appropriate person” can apply for a meeting. An “appropriate person” means “a relevant woman, or where the relevant woman has died, the dependant of a relevant woman”. This means that those eligible to apply for a meeting are:
- women who were part of the Review of Cervical Screening and whose review findings were discordant;
- women whose slides were sought to be part of the Review of Cervical Screening process but whose slides could not be re-examined due to circumstances beyond the control of the woman concerned;
- women who were part of the retrospective CervicalCheck cytology clinical audit and whose cytology review findings were discordant with those of the original cytology or
- the dependents of a woman who has passed away but would have been eligible to apply under one of the above categories.
* Please note, as per the Civil Liability Act 1961, a dependant is defined as a spouse, co-habitant, civil partner (within the meaning of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010), parent, grandparent, step-parent, child, grandchild, step-child, brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister of the deceased.
If you wish to speak with one of our Moderators we will ask you to confirm that you are eligible under one of the above categories. We will automatically confirm your eligibility with the National Screening Service unless you would prefer us not to. If you would prefer that we would not do this then we can talk to you about confirming your eligibility in another way.
As eligibility has been set out in legislation, you can only apply to us if you fall under the eligibility categories outlined above.
If you are not eligible to apply to us, you may be able to speak with the National Screening Service who has put in place a personal cervical screening review.
To request a review, you must have:
- had a cervical cancer diagnosis
and - had a CervicalCheck screening test in the 10 years before your diagnosis
The Screening Services advise that a review may help you or your family if you:
- are looking for answers or ways to understand how and when your cancer developed
- want to ask questions about your screening journey
More information on the reviews can be found here.
Please note the Restoration of Trust Meetings is an independent body and has no involvement with this process. Any queries directly related to this process should be directed to the National Screening Service.
