Neary review raises issues of credibility

IN your report headlined ‘Head of hospital consultants appalled at Neary scandal’ (September 4), I was drawn to the rather curious response by Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) general secretary Finbarr Fitzpatrick when explaining the failure of three senior members of the association to back the suspension of Dr Neary after their review of his work practices.

Mr Fitzpatrick is quoted as saying “any representative body would be expected to give appropriate assistance to a member who asked for it, and this is what happened in Dr Neary’s case”.

This calls into question the credibility of any review carried out by IHCA members.

Mr Fitzpatrick goes on to say “everybody accepts that if we were as wise then as we are today, things would be very different”.

What wisdom were these eminent consultants deprived of when making their recommendations?

They were all highly experienced in the area of obstetrics and had the case histories, so why couldn’t they see what other members of the medical profession saw?

Or was it another example of members of a profession closing ranks and protecting their privileged status in society?

Michael Roche

The Downs

Douglas

Cork