A LACK of information from the HSE and from Minister for Health Mary Harney has forced a former minister to reveal in the Dáil details of another cancer misdiagnosis case, he said.
Michael Noonan (FG, Limerick East) said he had written a number of weeks ago to Ms Harney and HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm, but had got no answer on the case of a woman who is now "extremely seriously ill with cancer", following two false negative cervical smear tests.
Mr Noonan gave details of the case in the Dáil after the Minister announced an independent review, to be completed in three months, of services at Ennis General Hospital after the deaths from breast cancer of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly after misdiagnosis.
Ms Harney said: "It is important to have a wider examination of the operation of Ennis General Hospital which would look at the approach there to the issues relating to diagnosis and treatment of patients."
She also said there would be a re-referral service for women, who attended breast clinics in the past two years "and who do not have a diagnosis of cancer but who have concerns in the light of recent events. A specified referral arrangement for these patients is being put in place". They should visit their GPs who would able to make a re-referral to a specialist service.
Labour health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan welcomed the inquiry, however delayed, but said it was "more about the agenda of downgrading of Ennis General Hospital and Nenagh and St John's Hospital than about finding out what happened to these two unfortunate women and their families".
Outlining the details of the latest cancer misdiagnosis, Mr Noonan said: "The woman involved is now very seriously ill. I didn't want to raise this publicly because the family wants to maintain their anonymity, but you have forced me into a position that I have to raise it here today because I can't get a reply."
He said the Minister had acknowledged his response, but he expected a substantive reply. He wrote to Prof Drumm but "you write to the HSE about someone who is seriously ill with cancer after a misreading of a smear test and it's referred to the parliamentary section as if it was a routine TD inquiry. You wonder what's going on in the HSE.
"A GP took a smear test for cervical cancer in 2006. It was sent to Galway, was tested and came back as negative. Inquiries this summer found that a smear had been done in 2001 as well."
The 2006 sample, when retested, showed clear indicators of cancer and the 2001 sample "also showed that pre-cancerous cells were present. At least, precautions should have been taken at that stage and the woman in question should have been the subject of observation."
Mr Noonan said: "I regard this as an extremely serious issue which has been very badly handled." Ms Harney said she had received Mr Noonan's correspondence in late August and a written parliamentary question. In her reply, she said she had asked the HSE for a report that was "almost complete" and would reply to Mr Noonan by the end of the week.
"Obviously, we must get the facts before we can respond."
Ms Harney said "my agenda is to make sure the services we provide are as quality assured as possible". There were "wider issues to do with Ennis that I have to be concerned with because Ann Moriarty presented as an A&E case".
Fine Gael spokesman Dr James Reilly said "it is disappointing and upsetting that we had to wait so long and that the leadership took so long to be seen and to move to act to represent the public interest".
