A hospital consultant at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise has been put on administrative leave after concerns were raised about the doctor's reading of mammograms. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
The Health Service Executive said all patients requiring mammograms or ultrasounds at Portlaoise would be referred to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin.
The HSE also said that it was conducting a review of the practice of the consultant radiologist "within the radiology breast service" in the hospital.
The review will be an external one and while a person hadn't yet been appointed to conduct it, the HSE said it expected the review to be completed within a month. It is not known at this stage how many patients' records will be reviewed.
The HSE, in its statement, said: "The HSE wishes to reassure patients there is no need for concern. Any patient affected will be contacted directly by the HSE".
Charlie Flanagan, the local Fine Gael TD, said he was surprised and disappointed at the HSE statement which he described as minimalist. "People are concerned. We know there is a review taking place but we also know that the entire unit has been shut down with immediate effect. We don't know the nature of the problem. We don't the extent of the problem. We don't know the numbers of women involved. We don't know the timescale involved," he said.
"It could well be that there are hundreds of midlands women now left wondering whether or not they will hear bad news from the HSE.
"What we have here is the complete closedown of a service on the one hand and a response from the HSE saying there's nothing to worry about on the other. Clearly Mary Harney needs to get a grip on this issue," he added.