HSE refuses to reveal cost of outsourcing smear tests to US

THE Health Service Executive has refused to reveal how much it is spending to outsource thousands of Irish women’s cervical smear tests to the US.

Before Christmas, the HSE launched an EU-wide procurement exercise to source additional laboratory capacity to tackle the major backlog in processing cervical smear tests. It then secured the services of a laboratory in America, saying it was entitled to do so on the basis of ‘urgent medical need’.

It expects to send 25,000 to 30,000 smears from across Ireland to the US laboratory, to clear backlog nationally.

In Cork University Hospital alone it sent 2,000 tests to the US this week.

“The HSE is currently investigating the possibility of having the British Society for Clinical Cytology’s translation table adopted in Ireland to ensure clarity for general practitioners, as the US test results are presented in a slightly different format,” the HSE said.

However, it would not reveal the cost of the outsourcing to America saying that this was ‘commercially sensitive information’.

Terry Casey, national secretary of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association’s (MLSA), which represents 1,700 medical scientists, said: “The problems causing the delay in cytology screening are primarily due to historic under-resourcing of the service.

“Medical scientists are firmly of the view that it is in the best interests of women’s health that the screening is performed in Ireland, in order to ensure that a quality service is maintained.

“We are calling on the HSE to put in place the necessary infrastructure and resources to allow this to happen.”

The MLSA will discuss the subject at its annual general meeting which is taking place in Dublin today.

It will also debate a proposal by the HSE to privatise over 50% of pathology work currently performed in the public health sector.