Doctor continued working despite concerns

A doctor at Wexford General Hospital, 13 of whose patients were diagnosed with cancer after he had given them the all-clear, was allowed continue working for a year-and-a-half after a colleague first raised concerns about his colonoscopies.

In fact, the employee at WGH raised concerns five times in nine months, but no immediate action was taken. Ultimately, 401 patients were recalled for further colonoscopies and 13 cases of “probable missed” cancers identified.

An external review of how the incident was managed, published yesterday, found there were “missed early opportunities to identify shortcomings in the performance of the colonoscopist responsible for the incident”.