Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Work has started to ascertain this number now that it transpires that there are cases of cervical cancer known to the national cancer registry that were not known to CervicalCheck. I have directed that immediate steps be taken so that information from the registry can be provided to the CervicalCheck programme on any additional cases of cervical cancer that occurred during this time. The screening history of the additional cases will be established, and if any of the women were screened through the CervicalCheck programme, their cases will be reviewed in further detail, with cytology review where necessary. It is important to say that not all of the cases will have a screening history, so we should be careful in putting numbers out there. I hear people speaking about definitive numbers. We need to see how many of the cases had a screening history because not every woman who had cervical cancer may have a screening history.

A helpline has been in operation since Friday and appropriate clinical staff will follow up with women on their specific clinical questions. The helpline has received in excess of 8,000 calls which gives Members an idea of the extent of concern that exists around the country. I have been advised that waiting times for calls to be answered have reduced significantly following my decision to bring in 40 additional public health staff to deal with the volume of calls being received. From here on, the serious incident management team and the screening service will give a daily update on progress on all matters directly to the director general, who will provide a daily update to me. The HSE will also publish a public update each day. I think that is really important. A lot of people are worried and I understand why they are worried and why they have been frightened. We need to show progress each day so that people can see, by means of a published daily update, what is the current position in order that we might try to reassure as many people as possible.

There is a new management team in CervicalCheck. The doctor in charge of the CervicalCheck programme has resigned from her post. The manager who was in charge of running Cervical Check on a day-to-day basis is no longer in charge. Mr. Damien McCallion, a national director of the HSE with responsibility for emergency management, is now the official in charge of CervicalCheck, reporting directly to the director general, reporting directly to me. It is important that we remind everybody of the importance of the screening programme. I have heard some people say that they do not need reminding. We need to be very careful at a time like this that while we must get to the bottom of this and establish the answers we approach it in a non-complacent and non-arrogant manner. We do not take the view that a screening programme could never be better. There are weaknesses in so many areas, but we need to remember that CervicalCheck has also saved lives, that the rate of cervical cancer in this country has dropped by 7%, on average, each year. More than 3 million smear tests have been carried out by CervicalCheck. It is not a diagnostic test. It is a screening test that indicates the possibility of pre-cancerous or cancerous lesions and thereby identifies women who need to be referred for further investigation or follow-up.

Naturally, many women are now concerned about their own health following the publicity surrounding CervicalCheck. To provide assurance, CervicalCheck will make the necessary arrangements to enable any woman who has had a CervicalCheck smear test, to have a consultation with her GP, in order to help her determine whether she wishes to have a further test without charge. These arrangements are being confirmed with doctors currently. I thank the Irish Medical Organisation and the National Association of General Practitioners for their engagement and support in relation to this situation.

In addition, I wish to inform the House that in February this year, I approved the introduction of primary HPV screening for cervical smear samples and I can confirm that primary HPV screening will be introduced later this year. A Health and Information Quality Authority, HIQA, health technology assessment has found that HPV screening would benefit women by making the screening process more clinically effective as well as reducing unnecessary tests for most women.

I want to address some of the questions which have arisen with regard to the director general of the HSE and, in particular, news reports in recent days of his role on the board of a US company. I want to inform the Seanad that I spoke with Mr. O'Brien this morning and he has advised me that he has taken a leave of absence from his non-executive directorship until July at which point I will appoint a new interim director general until the recruitment process is complete. I recognise that he has resolved to devote the short time he has left to serve as director general in working to deal with the CervicalCheck issue, and I appreciate that he began his HSE career in the screening services and wishes to end it by working to restore confidence in them. He has an awful lot of work to do in that regard. Ms Vicky Phelan said very clearly, publicly and in her conversations with me, that she wants to see action taken in order that some good can arise from the most horrific situation that she, her family and other women are facing. I assured her that this will be the case. I know that is a desire shared by Senators throughout this House and Deputies in the other House. It is my intention to take all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of the cervical screening programme, while at the same time ensuring that any lessons we need to learn are extended to all cancer screening programmes. These programmes are an important component of the progress that we have made over the past ten years in cancer survivorship for our citizens.

However, we also have to ask ourselves a broader question about the culture of disclosure and candour in our health service. The fact that we know that healthcare professionals in many institutions around this country had information that pertained to a woman's health record and chose not to share that with her should be a cause of concern for all of us involved in the health service, and for all of us who use and depend on it. We cannot have a paternalistic culture in the health service. Regardless of whether it would affect their medical outcomes, which is an issue for somebody more qualified than me, this information belonged to those women. This information was not shared with those women. We have to learn from that. Next week, I will bring to Cabinet a proposal to draft a patient safety Bill, which will deal with mandatory open disclosure for serious reportable incidents. I will ensure that the definition of serious reportable incidents includes our screening programmes.

I am fully committed to the further development of our cancer services and to delivering on our new national cancer strategy. Accepting that nobody has a monopoly of wisdom or ideas, I wish to extend the hand of bipartisanship to all in this House and the other House, to work together in the national interest to get this issue right for the women of this country and for the benefit of all who live here.