Concern at slow rate of progress as review of neurology patients delayed by paperwork
Families at centre of recallmust be kept informed: MLA
A REVIEW of patients of a neurologist at the centre of a public inquiry has stalled after crucial paperwork was not signed off for at least six months, it has emerged.
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) was asked in May 2018 to carry out a review of patients of Dr Michael Watt who died between 2008 and 2018.
According to minutes from an RQIA board meeting in August, the legal framework required to move the review forward was completed in February.
The RQIA website also states that “work by RQIA to finalise this framework had completed in February”, although there appears to have been delays in signing the document.
Minutes from t he RQIA board’s meeting in August state that, at the time, the RQIA was still “awaiting signatories from a number of partners”.
The MS Society in Northern Ireland has hit out at the latest delay and said the lack of clarity over the situation is heaping further misery on families across Northern Ireland.
Director of the charity David Galloway said: “Delivering on the promise to also review deceased patients of Dr Watt has clearly been bogged down by the complexity of this task.
“However, the lack of progress with this issue and a lack of communication explaining why this review has been so long delayed have caused greater uncertainty and anxiety for families.
“All of the patients and families affected by the recall deserve answers and until then, they deserve better and more proactive communication and information.”
The RQIA review into deceased patients of Dr Watt is running separately to a public inquiry which was announced last month by Health Minister Robin Swann.
Concerns have been repeatedly raised over the pace of the RQIA investigation. However, the watchdog has insisted progress has been slow due to the complex nature of the review.
In addition to identifying which patients should be in
volved in the review, the regulator has to seek permission from the patients’ families before examining their records.
Commenting on the current position, an RQIA spokesman said: “An initial legal framework to allow RQIA access to the records of deceased patients, and ensure compliance with relevant legislation, was largely developed by February 2020.
“However, RQIA undertook to further update this legal framework, which has now been signed by required HSC organisations.
“We are currently preparing to receive records and establish arrangements for accessing an expert panel to review a first cohort. We anticipate that this work will commence shortly.”
He did not say when framework was signed.
Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw, a member of the Stormont health committee, said: “While I appreciate that there are legal technicalities that need to be addressed, I would urge all parties to remember that at the heart of the neurology recall are many families who are awaiting answers.
“Going forward, it is essential that adequate resources are allocated to ensure that these are provided at the earliest possibility and that the families are kept appraised at each stage — they deserve nothing less.”
The RQIA review has been running in parallel with a separate independent review looking at the experiences of Dr Watts’ former patients, as well as neurology services in Northern Ireland. It has been carried out by Brett Lockhart QC and last month Mr Swann revealed it has been upgraded to a full statutory inquiry.
This was to enable the inquiry panel team to complete its work with “unfettered access to all relevant information,” said Mr Swann.
More than 3,200 former patients of Dr Watt were recalled for further examination after concerns about his work came to light in 2018, making it the biggest patient recall ever carried out in Northern Ireland.
Last year, it emerged that one in five of his former patients had been misdiagnosed.
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