Results 13,221-13,240 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: A cost that is five times greater appears to be a problem. The report also states that in 284 cases that were settled the total bill received from third parties was €49 million, with the actual cost being €27 million, giving a saving of 45%. Surely, if a saving of 45% was made, it suggests the bills coming in are hugely inflated.

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Okay. I have two questions for Mr. McCallion. The Scally report - it is an interesting report that I have read a few times - references a whole system failure, a systemic failure. Is it now accepted in the HSE that there was a systemic failure in regard to the issues that arose from the audit of CervicalCheck?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Dr. Scally uses the phrase "whole system failure".

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Mr. McCallion accepts that there was a whole system failure. What we are concerned about is the cost to the State and also the lessons learned. When did problems first arise? In what year did the HSE first become aware that there might be problems with the audit of smear tests?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Was it pre-2017?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Would Dr. Henry know?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: The HSE was certainly aware of it in 2015.

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: In 2015, 2016 and perhaps 2017 at many meetings of this committee we heard about discussions on a media strategy and disclosures. From our perspective, in terms of governance and procurement, what was most alarming about the Scally report was the finding that much of the original proposal material had been destroyed in 2017 and that it was in line with policy that after a particular...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Looking forward is fantastic and I hope lessons have been learned. Looking back is primarily the core function of the committee. I appreciate that today in the main we are dealing with the claims issue, but the procurement issue is also important. The organisation knew from the findings of the audit that there were problems in procurement yet, when Dr. Scally tried to do his work, he was...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: It would be interesting to see how many claims were in play.

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: I believe it cost more on the claimants’ side.

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: I wish to ask three questions. The first relates to process and I believe there is something of a pushback from some civil servants on this, as they try to put the blame or the responsibility back onto politicians rather than take responsibility themselves. When the helpline was first set up to support the women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal, what issues emerged in calls to the...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: Was retesting one of the demands?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: They did not want a simple rereading of an original smear. I spoke to the Minister of Health directly on this and I know that among the demands of women who contacted the system was a demand for a new smear. Is that not correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: GPs called for this as well. They would have had very distressed women come before them who needed to be supported, comforted and reassured. They contacted the Minister and the Department to tell them we needed to do something, following which the decision was made to give them free screening. That was the right decision and resources had to be put in. Huge pressure was put on the system...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: My point is that this was not an overreaction by politicians or a panicked response. This view feeds into the notion that the women were hysterical and it amounts to blaming them. We should not blame the women who contacted the hotline to be reassured, following which a political decision was made. There are very few occasions on which I would support the Minister for Health but I support...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: I want to come back to the issue of procurement, though I will not go over the issue of contracts being destroyed. I raised this issue because Dr. Scally found that there were problems with procurement. On page 77 of the Scally report, under a section on the analysis of key issues, he states that there appears to have been an overemphasis on obtaining the lowest cost from suppliers. Does...

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: I am going to come to the metrics in a moment but my very deliberate question was: Does Mr. McCallion accept what Dr. Scally is saying is that lower costs seem to trump quality?

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: That is what he said.

Public Accounts Committee: Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation (8 Nov 2018)

David Cullinane: One can accept somebody's report - with respect, this is part of the problem - but one does not necessarily then say that one accepts the proposition that he has put in the report. The report in its general terms is accepted. That is fine. Specifically here he is talking about procurement. He is saying that costs seem to be the biggest issue for the HSE, not quality. I am asking if that...