Doctors warned of outsourcing fears 10 years ago

OFFICIALS were told almost a decade ago that outsourcing smear test analysis to the US would result in missed positives – but the work was outsourced anyway.

Dr David Gibbons, former chair of the cytology/histology group of the Quality Assurance Committee of the National Cervical Screening Programme, and Dr James Reilly, who went on to become health minister, were among those to high- light the problems that would arise.

Dr Gibbons yesterday described his warning to CEO of the National Cancer Screening Service, Tony O’Brien.

“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 RTÉ Radio One’s ‘Morning Ireland’. He said the US system screens women yearly, while in Ireland it’s three years. “So even though they do the tests quickly in the US, they do it once a year. So they have a substandard screen, but more often.” Dr Gibbons claimed Mr O’Brien dismissed his concerns and he subsequently resigned. Speaking in the Dáil on May 29, 2008, Dr Reilly called the decision to outsource the screening “rushed and ill-considered”.

He said the US company undertaking the screening “could be missing up to 30pc of high-grade pre-cancers of the cervix, placing Irish women at an unacceptable risk”.

“These are statistics from medical professionals. I see no reason to disbelieve my fellow professionals,” he added. The HSE did not respond to a request for comment on Dr Gibbons’s comments last night.