"We must ensure we deliver on the promise we owe to Vicky Phelan," says Louth TD

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will amend the Patient Safety Bill to make it mandatory for people to be told that they have a right to a review of their cancer screening results after opposition TDs, including Dundalk’s Ruairí Ó Murchú, highlighted the issue during a debate on the bill last week.

The Patient Safety Bill was before Leinster House for debate last week, after the government promised to get the bill through before the end of the year, following the death of cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan.

However, the bill will be amended to make it mandatory for people to be told they can have a review of their cancer screening results.

During his contribution on the debate, the Louth Sinn Féin TD said:

‘It is fair to say this is far from the perfect circumstances in which to deal with an issue such as this and the gravity relating to it. 

‘We must ensure we deliver on the promise we owe to Vicky Phelan and to many others who have been failed. 

‘We must also ensure that we instill some level of confidence in the necessity of having the CervicalCheck programme and cancer screening in general. Like everybody else, I welcome the Minister having come part of the road by accepting that we need to lay down in the legislation that there is an obligation on the clinician, or the system, at the point of a cancer diagnosis to ensure patients will be told. 

‘There should be no doubt whatsoever that it would be a necessity for patients to be told that the option of a Part 5 review is open to them. We are still not particularly happy regarding the anonymised audits. 

‘I understand the point the Minister is making concerning the necessary lessons to be taken on board by the system and by wider systems. We are talking about data analytics that are absolutely necessary.

'It is far from impossible, however, that anywhere between 40% and 60% of women who use these services might be quite happy and might want to get the details of results, even regarding the terrible news of a discordant reading. 

‘If we are going to take the time, and the necessary time, to ensure we have a fit-for-purpose system, we must look at all the questions which exist. 

‘We owe this to the many women who have been failed over many years. We must ensure we deliver a system that is fit for purpose’.