Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise this important matter. Last week, Fine Gael used its Private Members' time in the Seanad to debate health. We focused on the need to restore confidence in cancer services. In a number of instances patients were misdiagnosed, errors occurred in mammograms and we had questionable treatment practices in some hospitals.

A somewhat worrying situation was reported in the Irish Medical Times and elsewhere regarding the accuracy of cervical smear tests. The Irish Medical Times reported that a number of cervical smear tests which were sent to the United States by the HSE for analysis had to be sent back for review after staff at Cork University Hospital discovered at least two patients were at risk of cervical cancer. The smear test for one of these patients was previously diagnosed as negative.

The HSE has had a business link with Quest Diagnostics in Texas since last January. I understand this arose because laboratories in Ireland could not deal in sufficient time with the volume of cases and tests sent for analysis. Women had to wait a long time for results and the solution was to go to Quest Diagnostics in Texas. What is the cost of this exercise? It was predicted that approximately 25,000 tests would be processed in total. The contract signed by the HSE stated 2,000 slides at a time would be sent to Quest Diagnostics from Cork University Hospital, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and St. Luke's Hospital in Dublin. This involves tests from throughout the country.

In principle one might argue there is nothing wrong with this until one realises the method of rescreening slides in the United States differs significantly from Irish methods. In the United States only 20% of negative cases are rescreened whereas the recommended procedure in Ireland states all negative tests are rescreened. This means the HSE allowed the safeguards put in place to maximise the accuracy of results and increase patient safety to be diluted in this business deal.

Through a freedom of information request the Irish Medical Times established that problems with translating the results sent back to the United States also arose earlier in the year. This was due to the difference in testing and reporting methods in the United States and Ireland, a matter I raised some months ago. If we send tests away we must be careful to ensure the methodologies used are the same. General practitioners had difficulties assessing the results which came back.

Will the Minister of State outline to the House what action the Minister for Health and Children has taken on this matter? Are tests still sent away? Have concerns been raised about the difference in the way the tests are done in the United States and the different criteria used for retesting and analysing the results? It could lead to misunderstandings and has the potential to put women's lives at risk.