Breast cancer misdiagnosis survivor Rebecca O'Malley today strongly criticised the chief executive of the Health Services Executive (HSE) Professor Brendan Drumm for failing to properly respond to a letter from her seeking details of the implementation of the recommendations arising out of a landmark report into her case, writes John Downesin Cavan
She also accused him of utilising the "dark arts of propaganda and PR spin" in relation to the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) report.
In an address to the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) annual conference she called for legislation to be introduced which would require mandatory reporting of medical errors and potentially unsafe situations.
Ms O'Malley said she was saddened and angered by the "climate of fear which hinders nurses speaking out on behalf of their patients" adding that the "prevailing culture" of our health service needs to change.
She said she had written to Prof Drumm over three weeks ago seeking details of the implementation of the HIQA recommendations but had yet to receive a full response other than an email acknowledgement.
She said the information was "of crucial interest, not only to me, but also to a very concerned public so why withhold it?"
The attempt by Prof Drumm to turn the HIQA report into a "good news story" represented "a sad flight from reality," she said. It demonstrated "at the very highest level the culture of spin and the lack of openness, honesty and transparency that exists with our healthcare system," Ms O'Malley said.
Ms O'Malley had a mastectomy after wrongly being given the all-clear from breast cancer in 2005. Her case went on to cause a national outcry and prompted an inquiry by the HIQA.