A Sky News presenter has revealed his late wife was sent a letter inviting her to a breast cancer screening, weeks after she died from the disease.
Colin Brazier shared a letter addressed to his late wife, Jo, on Twitter, sent by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Jo Brazier was married to the newsreader for 20 years and died aged 55 on 6 July.
Alongside an image of the letter inviting Jo for a screening on 14 September, he wrote: “I know the NHS is the closest thing we have to a state religion etc, but invitations to breast screening fall on deaf ears to those who’ve already died of breast cancer.”
The hospital trust has since apologised and said they will be investigating the mistake.
Dozens of Twitter users expressed sympathy with him, with some commenting that the blunder was “heartbreaking”. The presenter, 50, later tweeted to say that the letter was “a minor irritation” while calling for a “sense of perspective”.
“No no guys. Not heart-breaking, utterly or otherwise. Sense of perspective please. A minor irritation,” he wrote.
He added: “Certainly don’t want to be a recreational offence-taker. That way madness. Mistakes occur in all monolithic institutions. It’s just something that needs noting when it happens.”
Hampshire Hospitals later apologised on Twitter and said it would investigate.
“We are very sorry for the distress this letter must have caused,” a tweet from the Trust read. “Please be assured we take this very seriously. We will investigate this and look for any lessons that can be learned.”
The presenter was also urged to contact the trust with further details.