Dr. Colm Henry:

Deputy Kelly raised an individual case and he will understand that I would not like to comment on an individual case. On the issues he raised, we know more from Dr. Scally's report and the RCOG report about the original audit where all this began. Dr. Scally described it as well intended and flawed in design and implementation. The focus of the audit by CervicalCheck, like all similar international exercises, was on cytology but it looked at other elements of the screening pathway. The problem was, as we now know, that as Dr. Scally noted, it was "impossible to reach a firm conclusion on the methods employed" in the audit based on his inquiries and "a complete presentation of the audit outcome data was impossible to locate". For that reason, we welcome a more robust, standardised independent review which, we hope, will give greater assurance than one which was well intended but flawed in its design and implementation and which looked primarily at cytology but also other elements of the screening pathway.