Tallaght Hospital says it has lost the results of almost 100 patients who were tested for stomach bacteria that can cause ulcers and stomach cancer.
The results of 97 patients who underwent urea breath testing "can no longer be located on the computer system," the hospital said in response to inquiries from The Irish Times.
Urea breath testing is a non-invasive way of diagnosing infection with Helicobacter pylori, bacteria that can grow in the lining of the stomach, and are an important cause of stomach cancer and some types of lymphoma.
The gastrointestinal laboratory in Tallaght offers the test in Tallaght, mainly on foot of referral directly from GPs.
In 2010, an investigation found nearly 58,000 X-rays went unreported in Tallaght over a three-year period, mainly due to staff shortages and weaknesses in management.
In the current issue, the hospital has said waiting times for the urea breath test have increased recently because of the illness of two members of staff. As a result, it said it decided to suspend the service.
A spokeswoman said the waiting time for the test was typically one month “when the service is operating at full capacity”.
One source said up to 5,000 patients may be waiting for the test, some for up to three years, but the hospital said “there is currently no patient waiting longer than HSE recommendations”.
She said clinical staff recently noticed some stored “back-up test results” were missing from a computer in the laboratory. “Therefore, as part of a quality assurance exercise, the hospital is currently engaging with the relevant GPs to confirm receipt of the original test results.”
While results from the 97 patients cannot be found on the hospital’s computers, GPs are being contacted to ensure receipt of the original result, she said.
No GPs had contacted the hospital about outstanding test results and there was no reason to believe GPs had not received their patients’ original results, she added. An additional member of staff has been recruited to the laboratory and the service will be reinstated shortly.
Separately, the hospital confirmed it has written off a €300,000 debt incurred on a crèche on its grounds. The hospital loaned the money to the former operators of the crèche in 2005 to fit-out a prefab after fire damaged the previous building used by the crèche off-campus.
The write-off of the loan has no current financial implications for the hospital board, the spokeswoman said.
