Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 December 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Engagement with Patient Representatives on CervicalCheck and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Review Process

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The imprecise nature of the conclusions is the important thing. It is obviously better for a patient suffering from a condition or suspected of suffering from a condition if somebody can say that it is absolutely accurate or 50% accurate because the patient knows what to do. The patient can take action, whether that is getting a second opinion or whatever else, if he or she has that crucial information at the start. The sad part of it is that the system has undoubtedly saved many women's lives, but it was in operation for several years with an imprecise nature and failed to give the information to the women on time so they could decide for themselves what had to be done next, whether to get a second opinion or to go elsewhere.

My next question is on the attitude of the Department of Health. Ms Walsh mentioned that it was impervious to her concerns, to say the least. What type of bullying and threats occurred and at what level did they take place?

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