Dr. Stephanie O'Keeffe:

The first question the Deputy asked, in respect of the letter, was whether I was happy from an ethical perspective that, within the process they had developed, they had come to a conclusion that if the patient had sadly died, they were going to ensure the record or the result of the audit findings would go on the medical note. At the time when this was being discussed, it was clear to me that they were involving many other parties from the colposcopy forum and a whole range of individuals with expertise in this area, including colleagues internationally, on the best approach. Within that context, I was satisfied that what they had come up with was appropriate in the context of the guidance document. I absolutely appreciate that, with hindsight, perhaps a different decision could have been made. At the time, the way it was explained was that there were all sorts of different family types and questions over who would be able to get the information, and that there could be legislative issues with regard to the divulging of information and so on. I genuinely do not want that to sound like a kind of excuse because I accepted at the time that this was what they had come up with as part of the process. I completely accept now, in the context of how all these women and their families found out about the matter in the context of this national controversy-----