Barringtons' hospital's managing director Denis Cahalane said yesterday it was being "harshly judged" and blamed for the mistakes of others, reports Bríd Higgins Ní Chinnéide.
Mr Cahalane claimed that problems in the hospital's pathology department were being "deliberately clouded" by the Health Service Executive and that Barringtons was being investigated to divert attention from problems with breast cancer screening in the public sector.
He told The Irish Timesthat he would address shortcomings in Barringtons' care procedures.
"In my house, I will address those [ shortcomings] and I think it would be more fitting for the Department of Health and the Minister to address the shortcomings in their own department."
He said the public healthcare system should work with private healthcare facilities to provide patient care rather than engaging in what he called "needless backstabbing".
Prof Rajnish Gupta, consultant medical oncologist at the Midwestern Regional Hospital in Limerick, said yesterday that satisfactory breast cancer care could be provided only at a multidisciplinary care unit, where radiologists, surgeons and pathologists could reach a diagnosis together.
He said hospitals such as Barringtons' did not provide adequate facilities to diagnose breast cancer.
"Neither I nor Dr Gupta are suffering from the closure of the breast cancer services at Barringtons'. The patients are," said Mr Cahalane.
He also claimed Dr Gupta was deliberately questioning Barringtons' breast cancer services because he wanted to create a pressing need to open a specialist breast cancer treatment centre at the Midwestern Regional Hospital. "Meanwhile, women are having to wait up to 12 months to be screened," he said.
This accusation was rejected by Prof Gupta. He said he was not pursuing a vendetta against any hospital, but simply wanted to ensure the best possible services were provided at all hospitals, public or private.
Mr Cahalane said that Barringtons' was prepared to meet best practice standards recommended by Minister for Health Mary Harney. "The Minister made these recommendations in May 2007, but we only received them in the post on the 28th of August," he said.