Bradford hospital bosses were today embroiled in a bitter row with the BBC over a programme which claims they failed to properly treat women breast cancer patients.

An edition of the current affairs programme Panorama, called 'The hospital that failed women', accuses Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust of not providing proper care for the cancer patients.

The Trust is so concerned about the claims made in the programme and their potential effect on patients that it has set up a helpline to answer questions.

The programme makers claim that, following a year-long investigation, they found breast cancer patients at Bradford Royal Infirmary had failed to get a critical part of their treatment - radiotherapy.

In the documentary, to be broadcast tomorrow night, they allege they have evidence which suggests that a significant number of women in Bradford were put at risk of their cancer coming back and of the possibility of them losing a breast in a mastectomy operation - the very thing they hoped their treatment would avoid.

Panorama will claim that doctors and managers at the hospital have known for over a decade that some patients in the '80s and '90s diagnosed with invasive breast cancer were receiving less than the best standards of care but that the Trust has never told the women what happened.

The programme claims that their analysis suggests the problem continued for longer than the Trust has been publicly prepared to admit.

It claims three different doctors in the 1990s separately raised the alarm about the Trust's failings in breast cancer care.

The programme is expected to repeat past allegations about retired Bradford breast surgeon Jeff Price and accuse him of sub-standard care. It is expected to illustrate its allegations with personal stories from individual patients.

The programme is based on a BBC-commissioned report by Professor Michael Coleman who analysed 138 surgeons in the Yorkshire Cancer Registry. The report examines the survival of women diagnosed with breast cancer between the years 1982 and 2003.

However, doctors and hospital bosses in Bradford strongly refute the allegations and have been backed by independent experts who, following a review of the same report, concluded that the Panorama team has used "flawed" and "unreliable" evidence.

In one of the four time periods analysed, women who were treated with breast-conserving surgery by Mr Price were found to have a statistically excess risk of death two to five years after diagnosis.

His patients were also found to have had a lower than average rate of referral for radiotherapy following surgery, compared to the regional average.

But Dr John Wright, of Bradford Teaching Hospitals, who has been interviewed for the programme, argued this was incorrect and a misuse of statistics.

He said: "The past ten years have seen considerable emphasis placed on the collection and analysis of medical, and in particular surgical data, such as mortality.

"We are concerned that this information will be increasingly used inappropriately to make allegations about individual professional practice.

"In the hands of media that cannot explore the subtlety, complexity and uncertainty surrounding these data, there is a danger that performance figures will be misunderstood or even misused.

"We believe the way the Panorama team has handled this case will result in the further and unnecessary erosion of local and national public trust in health services."

A statement from the programme makers said: "This is a story of how hard it can be for patients to find out the facts about the quality of medical treatment.

"In spite of the Government's ambition for more openness across the NHS the analysis of treatment methods and outcomes is currently one of the most controversial areas of medical research.

"The public use of such performance data to reveal, for example, comparative survival times under the care of different medical teams is hotly contested by doctors and hospitals. Professional reputations are at stake."

Panorama said it stood by its interpretation of the data. It said a number of eminent experts helped in the making of this film, including an epidemiologist who also advises the Department of Health and a lead statistician from the Shipman and Bristol Babies Inquiries.

Miles Scott, chief executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals also strongly disputes the allegations and said that, while referral rates for radiotherapy were lower in Bradford before national guidance was issued in 1996, there was no evidence this had affected mortality rates.

"I am very disappointed that the BBC seems determined to go ahead with this programme that may raise questions in people's minds," he said.

"But the reassurance I would like to give to women patients is that the breast cancer service in Bradford is one of the leading services in the North of England.

"And secondly I would honestly like to reassure people that if you look at evidence over 20 to 30 years the people who have been treated for breast cancer in Bradford have done at least as well as their peers.

"And what is good news is that over the last 20 to 30 years survival rates have increased dramatically."

This view is backed up by the results of a clinical audit of nearly 1,000 patients records of people treated by Mr Price and who did not have radiotherapy.

The audit identified clear clinical reasons why some women were not referred for radiotherapy and also showed there was no increased risk of breast cancer recurring in these patients.

In addition the Northern and Yorkshire Cancer Registry (NYCRIS) has investigated and analysed the surgeon's 15-year survival figures and found they are identical to the regional average.

Mr Scott said he feared the programme could cause unnecessary alarm among breast cancer patients in Bradford, and stressed the care of such patients in Bradford was second to none.

"If the programme breaches BBC guidelines we will take this to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission," he said.

"We will not let this lie because our reputation among local people is too important. It is unacceptable for women to have doubts put in their minds."

He said purely as a precautionary measure the Trust had set up a helpline to support and reassure the community in the light of the broadcast.

It will open after the broadcast of the programme on Sunday and will be staffed by specialist breast cancer nurses. The number is (01274) 365922.