Update: Head of CervicalCheck Rapid Review begins investigation into latest scandal
The Chairperson of the CervicalCheck rapid review has said he has started investigating the latest CervicalCheck scandal in which it emerged that the Health Minister's office wrote to the woman who exposed the major IT glitch at a US lab a month before Simon Harris said he became aware of the issue.
It was revealed last week that around
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Yesterday, Mr Harris said that his office only learned of the
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However, a letter obtained by RTÉ News has revealed that "a private secretary to the Minister for Health wrote on 6 June to the woman whose case exposed the latest CervicalCheck crisis."
Today, Professor Brian MacCraith said he had met with the CEO of the HSE, Paul Reid, yesterday in order to agree to undertake an independent review into the issue.
Prof. MacCraith said: "My Review, which commenced today, will proceed according to the Terms of Reference published yesterday. The Review will examine the series of events within the Cervical Check programme that occurred following reported IT issues in Quest Diagnostics relating to the HPV test expiration for a number of women and the retesting process.
"The period of the Review will be from the time the IT issues first emerged up to, and including, the public reporting of these issues on the 11th July 2019. The scope of the Review is confined to those events. The HSE CEO impressed upon me the need for the Review to be completed as quickly as possible and, with that in mind, I have committed to reporting to him by August 2nd."
He clarified that he is carrying out the review himself and he will be independent, although he will be supported by a number of HSE staff working solely under his direction.
He will also have access to any external expert advice and he has started discussions with patient representatives including Stephen Teap and Lorraine Walsh, as well as ‘Sharon’, the patient who brought this matter to light.
He said: "I will meet with patients this week and have committed to keeping them informed of progress throughout the Review. The full Review report will be published."
"I will be making no further public comment until I present my report to the CEO of the HSE.”
Earlier: Call for clarity from Health Minister as to when he first knew of latest CervicalCheck scandal
There have been calls for more clarity from the Health Minister about when he knew about the latest CervicalCheck scandal.
It is after it emerged Simon Harris' office wrote to the woman who exposed the major IT glitch at a US lab a month before he says he became aware of the issue.
It was revealed last week that around
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Simon Harris stated yesterday that his office only learned of the
Read More:
However, a letter obtained by RTÉ News has revealed that "a private secretary to the Minister for Health wrote on 6 June to the woman whose case exposed the latest CervicalCheck crisis."
The woman, 'Sharon', said
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RTÉ News reports that a letter to the woman stated:
"The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, T. D. has asked me to thank you for your correspondence concerning cervical check and would like to again apologise for any distress this delay has caused you and reassure you that this is a priority for his Department and the Health Service Executive (HSE)".
RTÉ add that the letter goes on to say: "I understand that you spoke with a colleague in the Department in recent days and intend to speak directly with CervicalCheck in relation to this issue.
"If you wish to have the Department investigate your case further, I would be grateful if you could please provide your address, date of birth, and PPS number, by return."
Following the report from RTÉ, the Department of Health said in a statement that "the Minister's position has not changed" and denied that Mr Harris knew of the issue before 10 July.
The Department said: "It was already known there was correspondence between the Department and the individual whose case highlighted the latest CervicalCheck issue. The email is part of that exchange.
"On June 6, the Minister's office sought the individual's PPSN and other necessary details to have her case followed up.
"The Department then engaged with the Screening Service, which responded on June 25.
"The Department became aware of the existence of an IT issue through the information supplied by the HSE on 25 June in relation to this individual's results.
"The Department immediately engaged with the HSE to seek clarity about what the issue was, its possible impact, and how it was being resolved.
"This report was received on 10 July, and it advised of the nature of the issue, and that work was ongoing to resolve the IT issue and ensure all results letters issued.
"The Minister was informed of the issue that evening."
Labour's Health Spokesman Alan Kelly called for clarity, saying there are serious questions about the timeline of responsibility.
"Well I have a deep concern about the timeline," said Mr Kelly.
"A deep concern of the fact that the HSE have changed their timelines already once.
"That the Department and the Minister have changed the timelines as well once. And this further adds to the timeline.
"So really, either there was a greater knowledge in the Department of Health on this issue then we've been told previously, or else there is something dysfunctional in the Department of Health."
