Hospital is forced to review 46,000 scans
Consultant placed on leave after serious errors found
UNIVERSITY Hospital Kerry has placed a consultant on administrative leave while it conducts a review of over 46,000 scans and files.
The hospital has referred the woman’s case to the Medical Council for potential investigation.
X-rays, MRIs and ultrasound scans of 26,700 patients are under review after three serious errors were discovered during the summer. The consultant has contacted her solicitor and denies any wrongdoing. She has told the hospital that she will contest her case before the Medical Council if required.
The Tralee-based hospital launched an independent review of patients’ files in late October, a spokesman for the South Western Hospital Group said in a statement. The review, which is being conducted by hospital staff and six external radiologists, is expected to take eight to ten weeks. The case was highlighted yesterday by RTÉ’s This Week programme. Independent experts are examining the handling of tens of thousands of files from March 2016 to July 2017, involving patients in Kerry, North Cork and South Limerick.
The review, also known as a ‘look back’, has so far examined close to 18,000 scans and files.
Arising from these initial reviews, 21 patients were contacted for a medical examination, and no major missed cases have been identified.
The review also detected some diagnostic errors that have led to delays for patients in obtaining the correct treatment.
The South West Hospital Group said that a clinical co-ordinator is liaising with clients and arranging follow-up care.
The hospital group said that any patients deemed to require urgent intervention will be immediately contacted before the full review is complete.
University Hospital Kerry has set up a patient information line. The number is 1800 742 900 and it will operate 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. University Hospital Kerry, which has 300 beds, is the third largest hospital in the southern region and has a catchment area throughout Kerry, north Cork and part of west Limerick.
A problem with the handling of MRI scans is an embarrassment for the hospital, which commissioned a state-of-the-art new MRI scanner last year. The manager of University Hospital Kerry, TJ O’Connor, said last May that the scanner was owned and fully operated by an external company and would be operational in a few weeks. In response to a Dáil question to the Department of Health, he said that there were no staff shortages in operating the new scanner or handling the scans.
The scanning problem is the second major controversy for the hospital in three months.
In September, a Health Infor- mation and Quality Authority report found that infection-control failures were putting the hospital’s patients at risk.
Hiqa inspectors were so concerned about the risk of Legionnaire’s Disease that they referred the case immediately to the Health and Safety Authority.
They also wrote twice to Gerry O’Dwyer, CEO of the South/ Southwest Hospital group, warning of ‘serious risk to the health or welfare of patients’.
Poor practice the inspectors found, during an unannounced inspection in June, included poor cleaning of reusable equipment, including measuring jugs, bedpans and urinals.
They also found that there was insufficient isolation of patients with transmissible infection and no specialised ventilation for patients with airborne infection.
In a statement at the time, the South Western Hospital Group said it accepted the issues raised in the Hiqa report and was implementing tests for legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease.
Second major controversy