‘CervicalCheck trying to rewrite the past’

CERVICALCHECK has been accused of a ‘blatant attempt to paint over the past’ by the women who were affected by the cervical cancer scandal.

The 221+ support group was responding to a ‘Guide to talking about cervical screening’ issued by CervicalCheck to the media, broadcasters, commentators and academics.

It objects to a statement in the guide that ‘no lives were put at risk by doctors not informing patients of the results of the audit’ and that the non-communication of the CervicalCheck audit results ‘did not impact the treatment or care of the people concerned’.

In a statement, the group said: ‘We find it hard to believe that we are still discussing this today, almost four and a half years after Vicky Phelan first brought her case to public attention. Sadly, we are not surprised.

‘The women and families impacted by the many mis-steps of CervicalCheck in the past want to move on more than anyone involved in this debacle, and in doing so we want to be able to express full confidence in screening as a vital part of the effort to eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland.

‘Unfortunately, we can’t while we and our members, on a daily basis, find ourselves coming up against a system that refuses to recognise the mistakes it has made. We want to have confidence in the screening service but, no matter what changes are made, it’s not possible to trust a system that continues to deny the existence of something that we personally experienced, as it is doing again through this document,’ it said.

It accused the National Screening Service of seeking to deny and reimagine the Supreme Court ruling which found the HSE had primary responsibility for the failings of CervicalCheck, and the formal apology delivered by the Taoiseach to the women impacted by those failings.

‘There needs to be a reset, which acknowledges the past, embraces fully the spirit of those apologies rather than trying to work around them, and focuses on working from there as a starting point rather than trying to rewrite what has happened. It is not possible for the women of Ireland to have the screening service they deserve until this rewriting of the facts comes to an end.’

In a statement, CervicalCheck said it had issued a media guide as part of its work to increase public understanding of cervical screening.

It said it would never wish to add to the distress or trauma of anyone affected by cervical cancer, especially those in the 221+ group which it works with.