IS THE CERVICALCHECK DEATH TOLL LIKELY TO RISE? HSE OFFICIALS SIMPLY WON’T SAY

THE HSE has refused to say whether it is confident that the number of women who died as a result of the CervicalCheck scandal won’t rise higher than the commonly accepted figure of 20. Dr Gabriel Scally, who led the scoping inquiry into CervicalCheck, said that the upcoming review of the cases will include more women. The Irish Mail on Sunday asked the HSE to express confidence that the figure wouldn’t rise. Instead, a deputy press officer replied with a statement that failed to address the question.

A total of 1,856 women will be asked to take part in the review carried out by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The news that more women will likely be drawn into the CervicalCheck scandal has been described as ‘frightening’ by those already involved. Paul Reck’s late wife Catherine was one of the 20 to die following a false negative smear. He said: ‘My wife died a few years ago and now I’m dealing with a different type of grief, knowing it could have all been prevented.’