Neary scandal could occur again, warns inquiry judge

THERE could be a repeat of the Lourdes Hospital scandal if efforts by medical staff to improve education and training are not followed through by the Health Service Executive (HSE), the judge who headed the inquiry warned yesterday.

Judge Maureen Harding Clarke, who compiled the 354-page report on Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where obstetrician Dr Michael Neary carried out unnecessary hysterectomies over a 25-year period, insisted hospital standards had to improve all round.

While she found many of her recommendations had been embraced by senior midwives and by consultants at the hospital, she had also noticed there was a huge deficit in lay management.