MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney defended the Health Service Executive (HSE) as the Opposition berated it and accused her of failing to take responsibility following the crisis in breast cancer services in Portlaoise.
Answering questions in the Dáil following the publication of two reports linked to the operation of the breast cancer services in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, Ms Harney insisted that "the new cancer control plan would never have happened under the former health boards".
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly retorted that "it might not happen yet".
When Labour health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan, who raised the issue, claimed "the Minister will not take responsibility for anything", Ms Harney pointed out that "there is no designated centre in the midlands. I could not imagine one of the old health boards deciding not to designate a centre in its functional area."
Dr Reilly insisted that the Portlaoise hospital was designated but the Minister said "cancer was being treated at three locations in the midlands, which was highly unsafe".
Ms O'Sullivan said the reports "expose a total shambles in terms of HSE management in the midlands", and she added, "I have no reason to believe it is not the same elsewhere. There is an array of managers who perform different roles and do not report to each other. Even clinical directors report to different people than those to whom nurse managers report."
Calling on the Minister to take responsibility for the HSE, Ms O'Sullivan asked if Ms Harney accepted "that patients' lives are being put at risk because there is no clear understanding of what is going on". She asked "why was there no triple assessment and no radiologist with expertise in mammography" in Portlaoise?
Ms Harney said "serious issues are raised in the reports which I asked for and which have been published today. As I appoint the board of the HSE, it is accountable to me. I have huge confidence in the board which is responsible for the management of the HSE."
She wanted the board "to be centrally involved in risk assessment. I have asked the chairman to ascertain whether the issues which arose in Portlaoise have wider application across the HSE."
She reiterated that she wanted it "in the first instance to put a protocol in place to deal with these issues and ensure patients come first. The first thing that should happen when incidents of this nature occur is that there should be personal and direct communication with patients".
