Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion. I am pleased to support what has been said by the Minister and my parliamentary colleagues during the debate so far. It goes without saying that we must first express sympathy with any woman affected by the misdiagnosis of miscarriage. Most of us who saw the various reports on television in recent weeks were immediately affected by it. I believe they struck a chord with every family in Ireland.

I am pleased that the HSE has moved quickly on this issue and has been in contact, through its chief medical officer in the Department, with all clinical care units throughout the country to ensure the decision to use drugs or surgical intervention in such circumstances is in future approved by a consultant. I welcome the establishment of the misdiagnosis review team, the make-up of which I will comment on later in my contribution.

I believe the establishment of the Health Information and Quality Authority has provided assurance for the public in respect of the Health Service Executive. While it has been in existence for only a short time it has made its mark. HSE staff are at the front line in terms of service delivery. While I initially queried the need for a group to check whether the HSE is doing its job properly I now believe that the Health Information and Quality Authority, given its independence, was a good idea. The authority has the power to make recommendations and is often uncompromising in this regard. People often query the reason we must implement all that it recommends. However, the authority is acting in the best interests of patient care and has no other agenda. Its independence is to be welcomed and encouraged even though on occasions this makes life difficult for individuals within the HSE. I am happy that work on implementation of the recommendations of the commission on patient safety and quality assurance is ongoing.

The terms of reference of the misdiagnosis review team were set out on 17 June, which was prompt. In terms of the make up of this team, I want to refer in particular to a lady, Ms Caitriona Molloy of Patient Focus, who is the general public interest representative in the management of this incident. While I do not know this woman's background, I am pleased one of the members of the misdiagnosis review team is a person whose sole responsibility is patient focus. The review team has much to do in terms of its look-back over the past five years. I am pleased it will investigate cases, seek to determine the causes and responses to the cases and make recommendations as required, which is important.

When something goes wrong in a hospital the first policy of the Health Service Executive is to deny it happened and to not provide information or allow people access to their files for fear of litigation. It should instead seek to be fully open and frank with patients because not doing so results in a much bigger problem and often leaves people believing there is a conspiracy to hide information from them. Where an accident or misdiagnosis occurs it is important first that a lesson is learned and second that the person is dealt with in a humane manner. What has been happening in the HSE up to now is that the corporate shutters have been pulled down to deny all liability. That is my biggest gripe with the HSE.

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