THE decision to switch breast cancer clinics from Darlington to Bishop Auckland without proper communication was clearly a matter of serious misjudgement.

While directly affected patients were notified of the temporary change, there were no discussions with Darlington Borough Council, which is now responsible for public health management, Healthwatch – an independent community watchdog – or the town’s MP Jenny Chapman.

Controversies and damaging headlines can often be traced back to poor communication and this is a case in point.

But, having underlined that failing, we also feel it is refreshing to see a public service official be so honest in saying sorry.

Tom Hunt, executive commercial director of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, appeared before Darlington Borough Council’s Health and Scrutiny Partnership Committee yesterday, and completely held his hands up.

“The organisation recognises that we did not manage this well and communication has been very poor. It shouldn’t have happened,”

he said.

He went on to say that failing to contact Healthwatch or the MP was a “terrible mistake”

and that the trust fully deserved to be criticised.

Publicly acknowledging a mistake is always wiser than trying to deflect it or brush it under the carpet, but it is a rarity these days to hear such a candid confession.

The trust may have scored badly on communication but Mr Hunt has provided a good example of how to respond to an error.

The bigger test, of course, is to learn from what went wrong. A full review of breast cancer services in the area is to be held in July.

Comprehensive communication needs to be at the top of the trust’s agenda.