The British government has opened its own inquiry into the breast cancer assessment of nearly 7,000 women by a suspended radiologist in Northern Ireland.
The new inquiry will run parallel to an investigation already under way into test results at two Co Antrim hospitals over a two-year period.
Dr Robin Wilson, who is based in Nottingham and is heading the initial inquiry, said that a team of consultants was currently reviewing 1,900 cases at Belfast's City Hospital and 5,000 cases at Antrim Area Hospital.
A total of 44 women have so far been recalled for further assessment, but the results are not yet available.
Dr Wilson, director of Breast Screening Quality Assurance, East Midlands, said: "The speed of this process, in my experience, is unprecedented.
"I have been quite impressed by the organisation here in Northern Ireland in that we have managed to review the vast majority of the assessment cases within a week."
Dr Wilson said his completed report will be with the North's Department of Health before the end of December.
Experts from Dublin and Glasgow will be among those taking part in the inquiry.