‘Bad contracts’ block recovery of funds paid to cervical victims
Claims agency boss criticises HSE deal with American labs
THE State Claims Agency doesn’t believe the HSE’s contracts with the laboratories involved in the Cervical Check scandal will allow the State to recoup compensation it paid to affected women.
It has also emerged that Cervical Check did not disclose an audit – which found that at least 206 women received incorrect smear results – to the SCA in 2017, when asked about any looming risks by the State’s legal representatives.
In correspondence sent to the Public Accounts Committee, SCA director Ciarán Breen disclosed that its clinical risk advisers met with Cervical Check on March 10, 2017, for a routine risk management meeting.
‘There was no reference by Cervical Check to the 2014 audit or any open disclosure issues arising from that audit,’ Mr Breen said.
However, four memos show there
‘They did not mention the 2014 audit’
was communication between the HSE and Cervical Check in February, March and July in 2016, in relation to the audit.
Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris said neither they nor their advisers, were aware of the memos until they were presented to the PAC this May.
Mr Breen also said that based on the agency’s ‘perusal of the contract between the State and the laboratories’ it is unlikely the State will ‘have recourse to recover costs from the laboratories in relation to the Cervical Check crisis’.
He said this information would be better sought from the HSE and its legal advisers. The Taoiseach and Health Minister have vowed that a personalised compensation package would be offered to the 209 women or their families – as 18 of those women have died.
Mr Varadkar has said the State would pay the women directly and subsequently seek to recover costs from the laboratories.
Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene was one of the 18 women who died without knowing about her incorrect cervical smear results, said he hasn’t received anything from Cervical Check.
‘I sent in a written request exactly a month ago and haven’t heard a thing,’ he said yesterday.
The compensation package includes a discretionary medical card for each woman affected – or their next of kin in cases where the woman has died – meeting of outof-pocket medical costs, primary care supports and child minding, where appropriate.
The HSE has appointed a national co-ordinator to lead this service response and local liaison contacts to link with the women and their families. Mr Harris said 188 contacts had been made with those affected, with 75 meetings held to discuss people’s needs. A further 44 meetings have been scheduled. Mr Varadkar said the SCA now resolves to settle the outstanding legal cases in a sensitive manner, with mediation wherever possible.
Mothers Vicky Phelan and Emma Mhic Mhathúna are among those who have spoken out about facing terminal cancer diagnoses. Mrs Phelan, 43, who was given incorrect test results, was awarded €2.5m in a High Court case after suing the HSE and a US laboratory in April.
Mr Varadkar said he was told that the outsourcing of cervical smears to US labs was not based on cost but ‘capacity and the fact that Irish labs were not accredited’.
The HSE has said that 207 of the 209 women – or their next of kin – have been contacted. Efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining two.
The SCA currently has 29 cases under active management, with respect to the national screening programmes. Of these, eight are associated with Breast Check and 21 with Cervical Check. There are currently no cases relating to Bowel Screen.
IT seems extraordinary that Cervical-Check did not raise a red flag with the State Claims Agency after the 2014 audit revealed misread scans in the cases of 209 women.
Claims agency boss Ciarán Breen confirmed to the PAC that there was no warning about the cervical cancer scandal when its clinical risk advisers met with Cervical-Check staff in March of last year – even though four memos show there was communication between Cervical-Check and the HSE in that timeframe.
What may be even more alarming is Mr Breen’s opinion that, following an examination of contracts, there will be no recourse to claim back settlements made with the affected women or the families of the 17 women who have already died. In short, we will pick up the tab.
Everyone involved deserves compensation but who negotiated a contract that makes it impossible for the State to sue the laboratories? With every new piece of information, this scandal gets worse. Resignations are not enough. Anyone who had any part in signing up to a bad contract – and all who conspired in the cover-up – must face proper sanction to maintain the integrity of our health service.