HIQA publishes report on cancer misdiagnosis

An investigation into the misdiagnosis of a woman with breast cancer at University Hospital Galway has found that the mistakes may not have happened if a multi-disciplinary review system was in place.

The Health Information and Quality Authority says the woman, Ms A, was misdiagnosed twice by two different pathologists at UHG in 2005 and 2007.

Ms A was a patient at Barringtons Hospital, a private hospital in Limerick, but her pathology samples were sent to UHG for analysis.

HIQA's director of healthcare quality, Jon Billings, has paid tribute to Ms A for allowing her case to be reviewed for the good of others.