Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 12 March 2019, if the phone records between his Department and the national screening service for 28 April 2018 will be provided; if the calls will be identified; and the times they were made in relation to the offer of an out-of-cycle smear test (details supplied). [16854/19]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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124. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 12 March 2019, if the email and all related correspondence between the national screening service and his Department relating to the offer of an out-of-cycle smear test (details supplied) will be provided. [16855/19]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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125. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 12 March 2019, the way in which the information was shared within his Department in relation to concerns raised regarding an offer of an out-of-cycle smear test by the national screening service with his Department by phone on 28 April 2018; the level of seniority and role of persons within his Department the concerns were shared with; if his attention was drawn to the concerns raised; and if so, when. [16856/19]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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126. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 12 March 2019, the way in which the information was shared within his Department in relation to concerns raised regarding an offer of an out-of-cycle smear test, by the national screening service with his Department by email; the level of seniority and role of persons within his Department the concerns were shared with; if his attention was drawn to the concerns raised; and if so, when. [16857/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 to 126, inclusive, together.

On 28 April, at around lunchtime, I made the decision to provide for a free out of cycle smear test for any woman who was concerned, where her GP felt she should have a further test as part of her reassurance. My Department’s advice on this decision was reflected in the subsequent press statement issued on 28 April which said that, “for any woman who has had a CervicalCheck smear test and where her GP feels she should have a further test as part of her reassurance, the Minister has asked CervicalCheck to make the necessary arrangements, including payment provision. These arrangements will be confirmed next week."

After the decision was made, and on foot of telephone contact by my Department regarding implementation, the National Screening Service voiced unhappiness, but this failed to recognise the circumstances of the unfolding crisis in the programme. Following the announcement of my decision, the Screening Service set out concerns at 6pm that evening in an email to my Department. These related to uncertainty about costs, volume, impact on turnaround times, impact on perceptions of the programme's accuracy, challenges with processing GP payments, and the potential difficulty in ceasing the arrangements in due course.

These concerns were already readily identifiable, and of course would have been a sufficient reason why such a step would not have been taken in the ordinary course of operation of the screening programme. However, these were unique circumstances, as reflected in the level of queries forthcoming from women and also in the exceptional measures already initiated by the Department and the HSE, including the necessity for the Department to direct the establishment of a Serious Incident Management Team (SIMT) to address the CervicalCheck response.  The reality was that general practitioners, in difficult circumstances, were dealing with large numbers of worried patients as a result of the issues which had come into the public domain in the preceding couple of days. GPs needed to be supported while they awaited supporting information to be developed and disseminated by CervicalCheck. The alternative, which would have been that the State failed to recognise the reality of patients presenting to GPs in this way, or that the State refused to pay for such smears, would have been untenable in the circumstances.

The email was received and shared within my Department at Principal Officer level and I provided a copy to the Select Committee on Health on 10 April. A copy of the email has been forwarded to the Deputy. The Deputy has requested specific phone records. It would not be possible to isolate records associated with these contacts from others, given that over the time period from 26 April, including Saturday 28 April, there were extensive ongoing contacts between my Department and the National Screening Service. However, I am advised that the telephone contact was made with the National Screening Service at Principal Officer and Management Board level. It is important to stress this was regarding implementation of the decision and the phone calls took place after my decision was made.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Health if he sought to meet with the senior management of CervicalCheck after receiving a 2018 memo CervicalCheck: Patient claim following a diagnosis of cervical cancer, Briefing note for Minister Harris or after the case referred to in the memo became public on 25 April 2019 or at any time before expressing publicly that he did not have confidence in them. [16858/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Issues relating to the appropriate communication of the results of the retrospective audit carried out by CervicalCheck emerged following publicity about the case of Ms Vicky Phelan on the evening of 25 April 2018. I met with senior officials from the National Screening Service and the National Cancer Control Programme, with my Department, on Thursday 26 April 2018.