Scally report fallout: Sanction doctors over screening, says Irish Patients’ Association
Individual doctors must face sanctions over the shocking way they treated women impacted by the CervicalCheck scandal, the Irish Patients’ Association has said.
The Scally inquiry revealed the “damaging, hurtful and offensive” attitude of some clinicians towards women who were left in the dark over audits of their smear tests which was, Gabriel Scally said, “verging on misogyny”.
Dr Scally has said the Medical Council should investigate how consultants handled the disclosure of smear checks.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar echoed Dr Scally’s view that these doctors should now sit down with the women and the relatives of those who have since died and apologise to them. He said he was “embarrassed for his own profession” after reading the 170-page report, which made 50 recommendations to overhaul the screening system and to ensure patients are listened to.
“Among some older doctors, there is paternalism and occasionally maternalism and certainly a degree of misogyny,” the Taoiseach said.
It’s not their right to make that call. People are entitled to know their health situation. What now should be done as recommended by Scally is women being offered individual meetings with individual consultants who had the information and didn’t pass it on to offer that apology in person.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients’ Association said consultants should face sanctions. However, he said the paternalistic attitude of doctors revealed in the report is a far wider problem.
“This wasn’t just one consultant, it was a lot of them,” he said. “Women were bluntly told that you will catch up on it in the news. We are looking at cervical cancer services and the way in which women were treated, but we are equally concerned about other patients.
This is a patient rights issue and it also applies to other patients with other health challenges who have had similar experiences. It’s that arrogance that has to reprimanded.
A statement on Dr Scally’s behalf yesterday said it is now up to the Medical Council and hospital management to review the conduct reported by the women spoken to.
“During the course of the inquiry, Dr Scally engaged with clinicians and medical professional bodies,” read the statement. “In the course of these conversations, he was very forthright about the types of testimonies and comments that he had heard in the course of his meetings and conversations with the women affected.
“That the voice of the women and families was heard above all else was a priority for Dr Scally and his team. The matter of the conduct of the clinicians quoted is now a matter for the Medical Council and their employer to consider.”
