The husband of a woman who died of cervical cancer in April 2012 has said he is devastated by news of his wife's delayed diagnosis.

Paul Reck said he was told on Thursday that his wife Catherine was given an incorrect result on her smear test in 2010.

She died in 2012.

Paul Reck said an audit of cervical tests showed the smear Catherine received in November 2010 was incorrectly reported.

He said she was told she had low grade abnormalities but in fact she had high grade abnormalities and needed immediate attention.

His wife continued to bleed and feel unwell.

In August 2011 a colposcopy was carried out and Catherine Reck began treatment for cervical cancer in October 2011, almost a year on from the original smear test.

Catherine Reck received an incorrect result on a 2010 smear test

Paul Reck said life has been difficult since his wife's death. He said now all his family can think about is "what should have been".

He said there was no empathy shown to his family last week when doctors at Tallaght Hospital delivered the news.

He described as "insensitive" the way his family was treated last week. "We were brought into a colposcopy examination room" he said.

He said the doctor informed the family that they were made aware of the test discrepancies in 2016.

In a statement, the HSE said it is not in a position to comment on any case, but it is acutely aware that the past number of weeks has been a very difficult and distressing time for many women and their families.

The HSE said it is doing its utmost to deal with the issues at hand. A priority is contacting those women and families who should have been contacted with the results of the Audits.

Another priority is providing an appropriate clinical consultation for the many women who contacted the helpline. 

Mr Reck said his family always struggled to comprehend how his wife's cancer had taken hold so quickly and now they have so many questions.

He said the grieving process for his family starts all over again.

Mr Reck said all he wants to know is why his family was not told of the misdiagnosis.

Paul Reck said his wife Catherine was the centre of everything. She adored her children he said.

He said he believes his wife would be alive today had she be given the correct result on a smear test in 2010.

Meanwhile, the HSE has said it has now contacted 203 of the original group of 209 women affected by the CervicalCheck crisis.

Over 15,750 people have contacted the helpline.

Of these, over 9,900 have requested a call back and over 5,800 calls have been returned.

The HSE said that every effort will continue to be made to ensure that contact is made as quickly as possible with all those who have requested a call back. 

It has teams working in Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dublin and in hospitals around the country.