Harney rules out immediate public inquiry

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has ruled out an immediate public inquiry into botched breast cancer scans at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.

Dozens of women have been recalled for new scans in a major review of procedures after it emerged last week that seven women were wrongly given the all-clear. An eighth woman came forward yesterday.

Opposition parties have called for urgent government action to restore public confidence in the cancer care system, while comments by HSE chief Professor Brendan Drumm were branded as “insensitive” by former health minister Mary O’Rourke.