‘THERE HAVE BEEN 15 OTHER SMEAR TEST FAILURES’

VICKY Phelan’s solicitor has said that he is aware of up to 15 other women who were affected by smear test failures in the Limerick region alone.

Solicitor Cian O’Carroll told the Irish Daily Mail that the records which he and his client received suggested that the problem was widespread.

‘We have no idea how many other women were affected around the other centres for CervicalCheck but you have to assume it was a national problem since it relates to errors in screening done in the US.

He said that documents that were sent out to a doctor in 2016, indicated that these were his patients [15 Limerick patients] from the 2014 review, who had come up with an error. ‘Everyone involved in this clinical review had a diagnosis of cancer which had been preceded by a clear smear. That’s what prompted the review,’ he added.

The High Court heard this week that the 43-year-old mother-oftwo from Co. Limerick was given the all-clear after a CervicalCheck smear test was carried out by her local GP in May 2011. The sample had been sent by the HSE to a laboratory in Austin, Texas, for analysis. It wasn’t until another smear test was done in 2014 that she learnt she was showing signs of cancer.

She underwent radical chemoradiotherapy, but was told last November that her cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. In January this year Mrs Phelan learnt that it was now terminal.

‘Part of the records we received were substantially redacted and these contained things like spreadsheets or tables setting out the results of the review for this doctor’s patients. Included in this were patients A to O and our client was the only one who wasn’t redacted and she was N,’ added Mr O’Carroll.

Earlier this week, Mrs Phelan denounced what she said was ‘an appalling breach of trust’ and said that Irish women ‘can no longer put their trust in the CervicalCheck programme’.

Holding back tears, she said: ‘Mistakes can and do happen. But the conduct of the HSE and CervicalCheck in my case, and in the case of at least ten other women we know about, is unforgivable.’

Mr O’Carroll told the Mail it was ‘fair to say’ there was a great deal of anger surrounding what appeared to be a HSE cover-up.

He said: ‘Whether you can say there’s a vast conspiracy of cover-up, perhaps, you would need more evidence.

‘But this information was deliberately kept from my client and it was information of the greatest relevance to her personally.

‘The only [group] it served to keep that from her was CervicalCheck, and the people who kept

‘Appalling breach of trust’