Expert to review hospital patient care

By Catherine Shanahan>BR> The North Eastern Health Board (NEHB) has received the consent of patients for an independent review of care and treatment by consultant obstetricians at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

A former obstetrician at the hospital, Dr Michael Neary, was found guilty in the High Court last November of unnecessarily removing the womb of one of his patients, 37-year-old Alison Gough, of Ardee Co Louth. However, the NEHB denies the current review is linked to the behaviour of Dr Neary who is being sued by more than 60 women for allegedly carrying out unjustified hysterectomies during childbirth.

The Irish Hospital Consultant’s Organisation (IHCA) said it was highly unusual for an independent expert to be brought in when there were already channels open to patients to obtain hospital records.

“Under the Patient’s Charter, if a patient wants a copy of notes in normal circumstance (i.e. that it is not a psychiatric patient), they are obtainable, there is no problem in getting details of medical history from health boards or hospitals,” said IHCA secretary general Finbarr Fitzpatrick. “One should think that patients with concerns could follow this route and have the notes independently reviewed themselves.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said he assumed the unusual step by the health board in bringing in a British medical risk expert was a gesture of goodwill to the patients. The consultants involved are aware of the concerns of the patients, which have otherwise been under wraps.

A statement from the NEHB said the independent case assessment was being carried out with the full knowledge and consent of all parties and that the board would meet in full the costs of the reviews. The analysis is being carried out by Dr Roger Clements, a Harley St obstetrician with skills in risk management.

Yesterday, the NEHB said it had not yet received any reports from Dr Clements and had not yet paid any money to him. It added that there was a strict confidentiality agreement in place in respect of the matter and in the interests of patient confidentiality the North Eastern Health Board and, therefore, the board could not comment further.

Meanwhile patients’ rights group Patient Focus said a hospital or health board was right to investigate its doctors if it had worries about them.

However, spokesman Dr Tony O’Sullivan cautioned that it would be damaging to the cause of patient rights if it turned out that there was no substance to the concerns which had prompted the review in the first place.