Cancer society ‘full confidence’ in state bowel screen service
The charity said it has been assured by the HSE National Screening Service that improvements have already been made to services at hospitals that deliver colonoscopies on behalf of BowelScreen, following a review of Wexford General Hospital.
Health Minister Simon Harris urged people to continue using the bowel screening service after a report found that a recall of 615 patients detected 13 “possible missed cancers” at the hospital.
All of the cases relate to care provided by one consultant on dates between March 2013 and November 2014. Two cases prompted the recall, together with the case of a man who died before the look-back commenced
Mr Harris said he is “devastated” for the families of the people who were diagnosed with bowel cancer after being given the all-clear and that an external review will take place to ensure that every quality assurance is in place, not just in Wexford.
Dr Ken Mealy, consultant surgeon and clinical lead at the hospital, said: “We deeply regret this incident. Since notification of the first cancer case, our priority at all times has been to conduct a thorough and immediate review.”
BowelScreen said that since the incident, it has reviewed its quality assurance indicators to ensure that all units and individuals delivering colonoscopy services on its behalf are doing so at the highest possible standard.
Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald told the Dáil the review would take six months to complete and would examine the governance, accountability, and authority at the hospital.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said cancer screening programmes like BowelScreen are invaluable, but that they must enjoy public confidence.
“There is always the possibility of human error in medical diagnosis, but this goes way beyond that,” she said.
Donal Buggy, Irish Cancer Society’s head of services and advocacy, expressed concern for all of the patients affected.
“While we never want to see an incident like this happen, we understand that as soon as this issue was detected at Wexford General Hospital, a thorough, immediate investigation was launched and all potentially affected patients were kept fully informed and recalled,” he said.
Mr Buggy pointed out that bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Ireland; around 1,000 people die every year from it. About half of all colon cancer patients are diagnosed at a late stage.
“In its first round completed in 2015, BowelScreen detected 517 cancers, almost one in four of which were at an early stage, making it a truly lifesaving programme,” he said.
Dee Fitzpatrick, whose father, Pat, was one of the 13 people subsequently diagnosed with cancer, welcomed the report. She said her father had been through a difficult two years but is fighting “a good fight”.
Ms Fitzpatrick, who was speaking on RTÉ radio, also welcomed the external inquiry.
“There will always be a question mark for us — no inquiry can erase that but to know that systems are in place is really important,” she said.
