Misdiagnosis report ‘equally shocking’

A TIPPERARY woman whose delayed cancer diagnosis cost her a breast has warned that a report into the circumstances of her care contains shocking findings.

Rebecca O’Malley, aged 42, of Ballina, Co Tipperary, said the report, by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) “will be big” and will be “equally shocking” as the three reports published this week which drew damning conclusions about breast cancer care at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.

Ms O’Malley was critical of the three reports for failing to take into account the opinions of any of the women affected by the Portlaoise crisis which led to a review of more than 3,000 mammograms and 600 ultrasounds, and which found nine women had wrongly been given the all-clear for breast cancer. “It confirms the perception that the reports are more about the people running the health service than the patients they treat. Those in charge are not thinking about what the patients want out of this.”