A MOTHER faces an agonising three-month wait for a new smear test after city hospital staff put her sample in an out-of-date container.

Katie Eaton, who has fought off cervical cancer once before, described the blunder as a 'matter of life and death'.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust apologised to the mother-of-one and has taken steps to ensure no further patients are affected.

Miss Eaton, aged 31, of Mersey Road, Worcester, said she was in shock after opening the letter

informing her of the error.

"I was worried because of my past," she told the Worcester News. "It didn't help that I just lost my dad to cancer, and my dad's mum died of cervical cancer.

"I assumed everything was alright because I just trust them, they are the professionals.

"It's not right that the container was out-of-date. It's a matter of life and death.

"The test will be delayed for three months. We knew the hospital was bad but we didn't know it was that bad."

Miss Eaton was diagnosed with CIN3, which precedes cervical cancer, a few years ago, although she underwent treatment and her abnormal cells were destroyed.

The Lidl store assistant received the all clear following a smear test six months later.

This was followed by her latest test at Worcestershire Royal Hospital a few weeks ago.

Miss Eaton had to take the test at the hospital for medical reasons.

However, on Tuesday she received a letter explaining that she requires a new test because staff had put her sample in an out of date container.

She has to wait for three months before she can have another screening as some of her cervical cells need to regenerate.

Her mum, Pauline, aged 59, of Grasmere Drive, Worcester, questioned how the hospital made the mistake.

She said: "How the hell can a container be out-of-date? I'm worried sick. It's disgusting and disgraceful."

Mrs Eaton is now concerned that there may be other locals whose test results have been delayed because of the blunder.

She said it has been particularly hard to deal with the incident due to the loss of her daughter's dad, Joe, who died aged 61 from prostate cancer last week.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We would like to apologise to Miss Eaton for this mistake and the understandable concern it has caused her.

"We have already taken action to ensure that no other patients will be affected in this way.

"Unfortunately, where patients need a repeat smear test in any circumstances, for clinical reasons they do have to wait three months."

The trust said it was aware of one other person who had been affected by the out-of-date containers, although it would not elaborate on the details because of patient confidentiality.

A spokesman for the trust added that all clinical equipment is issued with an expiry date.