Patients recalled to hospitals over ‘quality control’

Health Minister Leo Varadkar said the recall to hospitals of hundreds of patients following a review of thousands of X-rays was more about quality assurance and control than anything else.

Referring to a patient at Bantry General Hospital in Cork, found to have a delayed cancer diagnosis, Mr Varadkar said it was obviously an enormous issue for the person concerned and a “real tragedy for us”.

Mr Varadkar said X-rays from all hospitals where three particular consultants worked would be tracked and reviewed.

The minister said he had only been briefed about the matter yesterday and had requested a full report from the HSE.

The review relates to three locum consultants, no longer living in the country, and the concerns raised by other doctors about the quality of their work.

The main hospitals concerned are Bantry General, Cavan-Monaghan General, and Kerry General.

Other hospitals affected to a lesser extent are Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, Wexford General, Roscommon, and Connolly Hospital in Dublin.

DISCOVER MORE CONTENT LIKE THIS

The HSE reviewed 4,388 scans and X-rays taken at Bantry General between May and September 2013 — a locum consultant’s entire caseload.

The health authority recalled 50 patients from Bantry General and offered them priority follow-up appointments.

Most of the patients had not suffered any adverse clinical outcomes and did not require further treatment.

The HSE said that, in the case of one patient, there was a delayed cancer diagnosis. “The HSE is following up appropriately with the patient and the treating clinicians,” it stated.

All three of the locums have been reported to the Medical Council.

Mr Varadkar said that reviews had been completed in Bantry General, Kerry General, Cavan-Monaghan, Wexford General, and Roscommon.

Reviews of X-rays and scans were now being conducted in Our Lady of Lourdes and Connolly Hospital.

Mr Varadkar said a programme introduced in 2012 was aimed at introducing quality control and assurance in relation to scans and X-rays “across the board” but, as he put it, “we are certainly not there yet”.

Chief executive of the Medical Council, Caroline Spillane, said it was for employers to police doctors and to determine the roles and duties they take up.

She said the council would notify a regulator in another jurisdiction if there was a finding or complaint lodged against a practitioner who had previously worked in Ireland.

Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher said it was extremely worrying that the disclosure came through the media.

“I am concerned that, just like similar crises in the past, the initial reports and the number of patients needing to be recalled are just the tip of the iceberg.”

He said there was a need for “absolute clarity” on exactly how and when the mistakes came to light.

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the scan errors were an indictment of a system that relied on expensive agency staff.

He said the consultants were employed through a medical agency and in one case the doctor was not on the specialist register.

Friends of Bantry General Hospital chairman Declan Hurley said that while the delayed diagnosis should not have happened, the hospital was safe. He said the issue arose when there were staff embargoes and the hospital relied on temporary staff. At the time, the radiologist was not full time. He had been assured by the hospital that anyone who had a scan between May and September 2013 and was not contacted had no cause for concern.

DISCOVER MORE CONTENT LIKE THIS