One of the nine women who were wrongly given the all clear at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise after being screened for breast cancer said yesterday she supported calls on Minister for Health Mary Harney to resign.
The mother of four from Co Kildare, who has had a lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed in recent weeks after her misdiagnosis was discovered during a review of mammograms at the Portlaoise hospital, said she has "no faith" in Ms Harney.
"I don't think she has a clue how to run the system. I know she didn't do the mammograms but after the way she has handled this whole situation I really do think she should step down," she said.
The woman, who asked not to be named, is to begin chemotherapy in Tullamore next week. After that she will undergo radiotherapy at Dublin's St Luke's Hospital. "I'm very scared about starting my treatment . . . and losing my hair," she said.
She had a mammogram at Portlaoise in mid 2006 and was given the all-clear. Then, while at work last month, her husband rang to say Portlaoise hospital wanted her to return to its breast clinic.
She attended and was referred to St Vincent's hospital, Dublin, for another mammogram, ultrasound and breast biopsy. She waited about 10 days for the results and then got the bad news that she had breast cancer and that it had been misdiagnosed. The news was delivered to her two days before the story hit the headlines earlier this month.
She says she will never forget the nightmare of having to break the news to her children. "It broke my heart telling the younger ones . . . they were devastated . . . I'd love Mary Harney to step into my shoes for the last couple of weeks to see what it's like for me and my family . . . I feel very let down by the system," she added.
Her husband, she says, is very angry and he has phoned Ms Harney's office a number of times. He left messages but none of his calls were returned. He is angry, she said, that her treatment should possibly have commenced more than a year earlier.
After her surgery she was advised to apply for a medical card and although she was over the income limit she was granted one for a year given her special circumstances. It means she will get an allowance towards the cost of a wig, which could cost upwards of €1,000, she explained.
The HSE also telephoned her last week to offer counselling.