An MP says lives could have been put at risk following an X-ray blunder which left thousands of the scans potentially unchecked by medical staff.

Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, is demanding an immediate, independent investigation into how the 5,000 X-rays, dating back more than a decade, may have been overlooked.

It emerged this week the X-rays - some of which check for potential tumours - were being re-checked and patients contacted should there be any cause for concern.

But with the X-rays dating back as far as 2007, the Labour MP fears potentially life-saving treatment opportunities could have been missed.

The blunder was revealed when it became apparent information on the trust's picture archiving and communication system did not match with that on the radiology information system.

And that prompted concerns the X-rays may not have been reviewed.

The MP said: "I am calling on the trust to publish all facts about the radiology imaging mis-matches and exactly how many patients have been affected.

"I am also calling for an independent investigation to be led by a consultant radiologist nominated by the Royal College of Radiologists.

"Our local trust’s record on cancer care is woefully.

"These reported confusions and misses by the radiology department will only serve to make things much, much worse. These blunders can risk lives."

It was first made public by health reporter Alison Moore.

Now Ms Duffield is demanding meetings with Susan Acott, the hospital trust's new chief executive and is calling on the Care Quality Commission's national inspector of hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, to conduct an inspection on patient safety at the trust in the light of both this and a recent outbreak of so-called superbug MRSA at the William Harvey.

Julie Barton, interim divisional director for clinical services support at the trust looking to ease concerns.

She said: “The team at East Kent Hospitals process almost 700,000 examinations a year. We use two record systems: one to store the image and one that holds patient information.

“When routinely monitoring our systems, 5,000 records show that patient information is included with the image, rather than being recorded on two separate systems.

“We are now checking and updating these records to make sure information is recorded consistently across our systems.”

The trusts insists the blunder has not led to any missed diagnoses in X-rays checked again so far, or any harm come to patients because of the potential oversight nor any patients yet been recalled.