Vicky Phelan backs Lorraine Walsh's decision to quit CervicalCheck committee

Vicky Phelan reactivated her Twitter account last night to back Lorraine Walsh’s decision to quit the CervicalCheck steering committee.

Ms Walsh, who was one of the 221 women whose smear tests were read incorrectly and developed cervical cancer, said has she stepped down because she does not have confidence in yesterday's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) report.

Fellow cervical cancer campaigner Stephen Teap has since said he is not happy with the “lack of compassion” for the women given incorrect test results.

Mrs Phelan said she had decided to reactivate her account “for a very brief period” to express her views on the RCOG’s independent review of the CervicalCheck programme.

“I fully support Lorraine Walsh’s decision to step down from the Cervical Check steering committee,” she told her 22,500 followers.

“I share Lorraine’s concerns about the RCOG review process.

“I would like to state, for the record, that I do not have confidence in the RCOG review process.

I share Lorraine’s concerns about the RCOG review process. I would like to state, for the record, that I do not have confidence in the RCOG review process. The RCOG Review was established to examine the individual histories of women who had been through the CervicalCheck...2/9 pic.twitter.com/z4nGcl5w1M

— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) December 4, 2019

“The RCOG Review was established to examine the individual histories of women who had been through the CervicalCheck screening system and who had developed cervical cancer and to determine, in cases where results were discordant, what was the impact on treatment, prognosis and outcome.

“It is notable that the focus yesterday by Government was on RCOG’s endorsement of the screening programme.”

She said this was "rather than on the impact of the findings for those women and families, which was actually the purpose of the Review."

And she added: “Lorraine bravely outlined her experience on RTE’s Prime Time.”

She then reminded her followers what Mrs Walsh’s experience of the review had been.

“Lorraine was first told her slides could not be traced,” Mrs Phelan said.

She was then given a set of results even though her slides supposedly didn’t exist and 24 hours later was presented with a new report with entirely different results.

“On further investigation, she found that labelling had been removed from both her slides and mine and our slides were subsequently mislabelled.

“These events do not instil confidence in the RCOG process.

“Lorraine stood down from the CervicalCheck Steering Committee accordingly, a decision I wholeheartedly agree with.

“Lorraine's decision was based on an unwavering commitment to the women and families of the @221plus group.”

She said this was a group that Mrs Walsh had helped found and which she “has dedicated the past 12 months of her life helping women and families caught up in this debacle”.

And she added: “Lorraine has requested that each woman be given the option of getting individual independent reviews of their smear screening, cytological and clinical history.

This is the only way to conclusively give peace of mind to the women and families affected.

“This is an essential step to ensure that lingering concerns about past failures in CervicalCheck do not undermine future confidence in the screening programme, a programme we both want to restore trust in.”

Mrs Phelan quit Twitter last week over online criticism.

Comments on the social media platform - led by an academic who recently published a book - labelled one of the cancer therapies she uses as ‘pseudo science’.

And she was also referred to as a ‘celebrity patient’ and accused of spreading ‘misinformation’ about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.