Report uncovers systematic problems

THE man who headed the State’s probe into the misdiagnosis of a breast cancer patient was “surprised and disappointed” but not “horrified” when it revealed systemic mismanagement at two HSE hospitals.

A review of the botched cancer test of Tipperary woman Rebecca O’Malley by the Health Information and Quality Authority found it was caused by a once-off interpretative mistake by a locum consultant pathologist at Cork University Hospital.

The report, however, was highly critical of the way Ms O’Malley’s case was dealt with by the Health Service Executive, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick and CUH.