HSE ‘hush money’ culture has cost lives – WHEN will the rot stop?
VICKY Phelan has been the name on everyone’s lips around Irish kitchen tables and work place canteens this past week. The terminally-ill woman who brought this issue to light last week settled her High Court action against Clinical Pathology Laboratories Inc in Austin, Texas for refraining to giving her the correct smear test results, resulting in her cervical cancer diagnosis, for €2.5 million.
The number of women who are believed to have been affected in the recent CervicalCheck controversy has now risen from 206 to 208. A HSE spokesperson said 46 of the women were told of the review, while 162 were not told.
The Limerick woman’s brave stance to battle the HSE through illness to win compensation for her family in the event of her premature death has blown the lid on another HSE scandal. Her name and the vital issue her case raises would not be out in the open only for her courage.
Speaking on the Ray D’Arcy Show on Saturday night, Vicky said when she was told to ‘ keep her mouth shut’ for a payoff, she told the chatshow host: ‘I was absolutely adamant that I was never going to sign a contractual clause.’
Showing great strength and principles, her actions have once again highlighted the cowardice and secretive nature of some officials in the HSE, which, it should be remembered, has a terrible track record in all but starving families out by making them wait years to receive payments for mistakes made in the country’s hospitals, including in Wicklow and Wexford.
A former member of the National Cervical Screening Programme highlighted the lack of foresight in the organisation on Monday. Dr David Gibbons said he raised concerns about the outsourcing of Irish smear tests 10 years ago - and predicted there would be problems about quality assurance.
Dr Gibbons was chair of the Cytology/ Histology Group within the Quality Assurance Committee of the National Cervical Screening Programme when he expressed his concerns in 2008. The department had a backlog due to under-resourcing and tests were outsourced to laboratories in the US.
At the time Dr Gibbons expressed concern about the figures they received back. ‘They were predicting fewer pre-cancer cases in a batch of similar population size to us. We were finding 1.8 cases per 100, they were finding 1.2. This was a third of a difference,’ he told Morning Ireland yesterday.
Dr Gibbons said he organised a meeting with the outgoing head of the HSE Tony O’Brien to raise his concerns. He alleged that Mr O’Brien dismissed these concerns. ‘I started and said I was QA advisor and then I expressed my concerns. I said over a 10-year period this would cause problems, problems what wouldn’t be there for 10 years.’
He subsequently resigned. Mr O’Brien apologised to Ms Phelan on Friday.
Showing remarkable candour and good grace, Ms Phelan has encouraged women across Ireland to continue using the National Cervical Screening Programme at a time when it has been under fire.
A total root and branch re-look is needed at how cervical care is provided for women and teenage girls across Ireland and while we’re at it, we should look at how much we pay people who run an ineffective, at times downright hostile health service, which cares not one damn for women like Vicky Phelan. Mr O’Brien was paid €600,000 last year.
I’ll leave it there.