Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that it has not been patient-centred and that people are going to court because there is no other avenue available to them to get justice. I mentioned one of the 11 patients who was identified in the report as having received a misdiagnosis or in respect of whom there was a delayed diagnosis which had resulted in severe negative outcomes for his health. Between March and October 2016, the now 71 year old who is a husband, a father and a grandfather had three chest X-rays, in which his cancer was not picked up. The radiologist whose work was reviewed is not the only one who was involved in the case; there was another doctor who reported on at least one of the scans. The symptoms persisted and, at the insistence and because of the persistence of his wife, the GP referred the man in question for another X-ray in early 2017 when his lung cancer was finally diagnosed. The error had not been detected and despite the delayed diagnosis, he was scheduled for a CT scan in June that year, months after the misdiagnosis had been identified. His wife persisted and ensured that the scan was brought forward to April. It was discovered that the cancer had spread at such a rate that it was wrapped around the main artery to his heart. He went through what his wife described as "horrific treatment", but it was too late. I am informed that he only has a short time left and that the family firmly believe that if the cancer had been detected in any of the three earlier X-rays, it would not have been terminal. They have asked me to make the point that they have to fight for appointments in the health service to receive the care and treatment needed. They have to fight for grant aid in order to provide such basic things as a downstairs toilet in order that the man in question who was failed by the health service can live out his final days in comfort. He is on oxygen 24 hours a day and his family are devastated. They are appealing to me to ask the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and the Government not to force an individual who has been so let down and failed to go through a complicated legal process. We need to ensure we wrap him and his family in the supports available, provide grant aid without them having to fight for it and appointments without them having to demand that his treatment be fast-tracked. It is not patient-centred and the family should not have to go to court. I want assurances from the Tánaiste that everything that can be done will be done to provide the best treatment available for the individuals affected in whatever days they have left and that a process will be put in place to avoid their having to take the legal route.

See this speech in context