Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Two issues arise concerning protocols. There are clinical issues, which are a matter for clinicians. We have strengthened the Medical Council with a lay majority. We are introducing competence assurance. We have a more appropriate fitness to practice regime. All of these measures, about which there was much criticism, will greatly help because among the issues that arise is when other clinicians have questions about doctors it has been very difficult under the old legislation to protect them when they report. The new legislation provides that protection if they report in good faith. That is long overdue and important.

Regarding protocols, we know internationally, and Deputy Reilly knows as a doctor, that adverse events happen in approximately 10% of cases in those countries where this has been researched. Thankfully, very few of them have fatal consequences but adverse events happen in about 10% of cases in New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom and many countries that have researched this area. Unfortunately, we will have adverse events but what we must do is minimise the capacity for error making by changing the way we organise services.

The protocol will concern the way the Health Service Executive deals with these incidents — when it contacts patients and how it does so. In this case what happened was that on 28 August the HSE made a public announcement in Portlaoise that it had withdrawn the service and that 3,000 mammograms would be reviewed. That was the first time those patients heard about that and from now on we must ensure that the patients hear directly. That may not always be possible. There may be leaks from time to time but where possible there should be a protocol for how this is handled that is consistent across the service and a single person should be responsible to ensure the protocol is implemented.

On the issues concerning Drogheda, I am not briefed——

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