Committee told more women may be affected
THE author of a report into the cervical cancer screening controversy has raised fears that more women could be impacted by the crisis.
Dr Gabriel Scally said he had serious issues with the flawed system and the set of criteria used by HSE to identify the 221 women affected.
He added he could not be confident that more women had not been impacted.
The author was questioned on the findings of his scoping report into the scandal at a parliamentary committee meeting yesterday, the same day as Emma Mhic Mhathuna was laid to rest.
A minute’s silence was held at the meeting as a mark of respect for her and the other women screened through Cervicalcheck who had received incorrect smear test results.
Questions were raised at the meeting by Dr Scally and scoping inquiry team member Dr Karin Denton over the 18-month cut-off point chosen by the HSE for the clinical audit.
She said: “I’m not yet assured of the exact criteria of identifying those 221 women.”
Dr Scally said he also had questions he would like answered around the original contract agreements for the laboratories, which had been shredded by the HSE as was common policy after 10 years.
He added he believed a compensation scheme needed to be considered for women who were failed by cancer screening.
It was the first time since the publication of the scoping inquiry last month that Dr Scally appeared in the Oireachtas to discuss the findings.
He had met with many of the women affected and their families before publishing the report.