Local TDs talk with hospital’s clinical director
WEXFORD’S TDs say that patients need to be re-assured that there be no repeat of the mistakes which led to the failure to discover possible cancer in 13 patients who underwent bowel screening at Wexford General Hospital.
The Oireachtas members were commenting following a phone briefing by the clinical director at Wexford General Hospital Colm Quigley, who told them new procedures were now in place with every scan being examined by at least two clinicians.
The consultant who carried out the flawed scans has been on leave since the scandal broke.
Minister Paul Kehoe said he had raised his concerns with the Minister for Health about what had happened.
‘I absolutely sympathise with the patients and families who have been given these devastating results. I have also heard the concerns of people.. today regarding BowelScreen services in Wexford. If it was a relative of mine, I would be expressing the same concerns,’ he said.
‘I am satisfied with the follow-up actions outlined by consultant Ken Mealy, but have raised the genuine concerns of the patients, their families and the people of Wexford with the Minister for Health, with whom I have spoken on the matter.
‘I have emphasised to the Minister the need for the external review to proceed without delay to ensure that the public can continue to have the fullest confidence in this vital screening programme.
‘Screening programmes such as this are saving lives every day, but this will not be the case if the public’s confidence in the screening process is not maintained. I have been assured that steps are being taken to ensure an incident such as this never happens again,’ he said.
Deputy James Browne said the HSE needs to provide certainty for patients over the standards of its cancer screening programme.
‘Last year, it was revealed that around 600 patients who received cancer screening at Wexford General Hospital were being recalled due to concerns that their cases were not dealt with correctly. This review found that two cases of bowel cancer were missed arising from colonoscopies carried out at the hospital in 2013 and 2014,’ said Deputy Browne.
‘At the time the HSE assured patients that all cases had been thoroughly and comprehensively investigated. However, now it transpires that a further 11 cases of possible misdiagnosis have been identified. This is deeply concerning and comes as a shock to the patients and their families.
‘ The HSE needs to provide patients with certainty that there will not be a repeat occurrence of misdiagnosis at the hospital. It’s clear that new protocols are needed to prevent a repeat of this. In particular, the HSE needs to ensure the cancer screening programme at the hospital is adequately staffed and resourced. Failure to do so could result in over-worked staff making mistakes.’
Deputy Browne concluded: ‘I’ve written to the Minister for Health Simon Harris and have asked him to investigate this issue.’
Deputy Brendan Howlin said the cancer screening programme had saved hundreds of lives and people needed to have confidence in it.
‘It’s clear mistakes were made in the programme at Wexford General Hospital. We have been assured that every case has been thoroughly re-examined and the people affected have been advised and given full and proper treatment,’ he said.
He said the lessons that have been learned have a national impact on the need for quality assurance at the highest level.
‘We need proper oversight of every scan, that its not just the opinion of one individual and that have as accurate an analysis as possible.
‘No system was going to be foolproof and any scan in the past was a subjective