The inquiry into breast cancer care at Barringtons private hospital in Limerick will be confined to the files of about 400 patients, it emerged yesterday.
The managing director of the hospital, Denis Cahalane, has told The Irish Timesthat about 400 patients have been contacted and their consent has been sought to have their files reviewed by an external inquiry team.
Earlier reports had suggested thousands of files would have to be reviewed by the team, which is to be chaired by the former chief medical officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Henrietta Campbell.
The need for an inquiry at Barringtons was announced by Minister for Health Mary Harney at the end of August after questions were raised by the media about cancer care at the hospital.
Concerns about the manner in which 10 breast cancer patients in particular had been treated at Barringtons were raised with the Health Information and Quality Authority by a cancer specialist in the midwest in early August.
The health information authority had the cases assessed by two independent specialists who expressed serious concerns about what they found.
The Department of Health then asked Barringtons to stop treating breast cancer patients.
Ms Harney said an independent examination was required into the care given to all patients who presented at the symptomatic breast disease service at Barringtons Hospital between September 2003 and August 2007.
It has since emerged that the team to conduct this independent examination has been chosen by Barringtons itself but the Department of Health said it had also approved the names of those on the inquiry team and was drawing up terms of reference.
Mr Cahalane said yesterday that three out of the four inquiry team members were from outside the Republic but he refused to identify any of them other than Dr Campbell.
He said the inquiry team had not yet begun reviewing patient files as patients first had to consent to their files being reviewed. Only a small number have given consent to date.
"We took advice from the Attorney General who advised us that patient consent should be sought before any external review should take place. We are doing that now and the patient consent forms are coming back," he said.
"To say the process hasn't started is incorrect," he added.