Cancer scandal: f lood of women seek retest Minister sends in team to oversee screening service
CLINICS are set to increase the number of nurses available amid a sharp rise in the number of women seeking tests in the aftermath of the Vicky Phelan case.
The medical director of the Dublin Well Woman Centre Shirley McQuade said there are people who are “anxious and worried” and the clinics have noticed a significant increase in activity.
It came as Health Minister Simon Harris, who said he has no confidence in the management of CervicalCheck, has sent in a medical team to oversee the service. He said that while he was fully supportive of the national screening service, he could “truthfully” say this did not extend to the people running CervicalCheck.
Last night, Mr Harris said that a senior medical team would investigate all patient files and ensure that all women who were patients were informed of their review. It is yet another crisis to emerge under the tenure of Mr Harris amid concerns of how it was allowed to escalate with potentially long-term implications for the trust women have in the service.
MUM-OF-TWO Kim Hanly was just 26 when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
The 32-year-old subsequently set up an online support group for women affected by cervical cancer or dealing with issues such as abnormalities in smear tests, because “it’s a very isolating experience”.
“These are found, in the majority of cases, through the CervicalCheck programme,” she commented.
She has urged women to get smear tests done. Her own cancer was picked up through the screening programme in July 2012.
Kim ended up needing a radical hysterectomy after undergoing all the necessary scans. The tumour was contained so she didn’t need any additional treatment.
But she said: “It’s the after-effects people don’t realise.
“Having to go into menopause so young has been hard.”
She said that she was grateful she went for the smear test when she did and didn’t leave it another six to 12 months.
“They caught it just in time in a sense,” she said.
“That programme, it did save my life. There was no issues, everything was done within a matter of weeks.
“I can’t fault them. Obviously I can’t speak for anyone else.”
Kim lives in Tallaght with her children Shane (10) and Evan (8) and is nearly finished her honours degree in IT management.
She told the Irish Independent her thoughts, and those of all the women in the support group affected by cervical cancer, were with Vicky Phelan this week when news of the scandal emerged.