CONFIDENCE IN CANCER SCREENING CRITICAL
Labour spokesperson on Health, Alan Kelly TD, has expressed his concern over the 13 cases of ‘possible missed cancers’ at Wexford General Hospital, and says an external review of cancer services at the hospital is welcome.
It follows a HSE recall of over 600 patients who underwent cancer screening at the hospital between March 2013 and November 2014.
Deputy Kelly said:
“Clearly there has been a serious failure at Wexford General Hospital, which is deeply distressing for those patients involved and their families. It is extremely concerning that someone may have been given the all-clear for cancer, only to find out later that this was not in fact the case.
“People need to have confidence in our health system and the services it provides, including the National Screening Service, which is vital in the fight against cancer. The HSE needs to reassure the public that the appropriate measures are now in place at Wexford General and hospitals right across the country, to ensure cases like this do not happen again.
“I welcome confirmation this afternoon that an external review is to be carried out into the governance, accountability and authority of the cancer programme, and will call for the findings to be made public once completed.
“It is critical for people across Ireland that they can have confidence in the HSE cancer screening programme.”