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HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has said it is “absolutely pathetic” and “not acceptable” that scanned documents were sent to the Cervical Check scoping probe.
It emerged this week that Dr Gabriel Scally, who is heading up the probe, had been provided with unsearchable and difficult to read documentation by state bodies.
Harris, speaking to RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, said that he would be writing to the HSE today to insist that information be provided to Scally in a way that makes sense so he can get on with his work.
Making interim recommendations yesterday the Scally inquiry said an immediate ex- gratia payment of €2,000 should be paid to each woman involved in the Cervical Check scandal and to the next of kin of the deceased.
An end-of-June deadline was initially imposed on the scoping probe – but it’s now expected to conclude at the end of the summer.
Scally said yesterday that it had been difficult to obtain information in the format required.
“I am frustrated by it,” he said. “The problem is the volume of information that we’re going to have to go through and its availability to us, because it is not yet coming either in the quantity I would want it or in the way I would want it.”
He added:
I will not be letting walls get in my way, whether they are stone or otherwise.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil today that the government expected full cooperation by all agencies and said anyone who attempted to obstruct the work of the investigation was obstructing the work of the government.
Responding to questions from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin he said the government was “committed to establishing a Commission of Inquiry” but that it was important the Scally probe conclude its work first.
The CervicalCheck controversy came into the public eye when Vicky Phelan, whose cervical cancer is now terminal, settled a High Court action against the HSE and the US laboratory tasked with reviewing one of her smears.
At least 18 women whose smear tests were highlighted during an audit have since died. Health Minister Simon Harris launched an inquiry into the controversy last month, imposing that June deadline.
The scoping inquiry will examine details of the non-disclosure of information from Cervical Check audits to patients and what various parties, including the HSE and the Department of Health, knew and when they knew it.
It will also examine the tendering, contracting and operation of the labs contracted by Cervical Check.
A separate strand of the examination will review the screening tests of all the women who have developed cervical cancer who participated in the screening programme since it was established (more details on the probe here).
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So instead of emailing over the Word or PDF docs they are printing them, scanning the printed paper and emailing over the scan which is of course blurry and unsearchable. That’s either obstruction or utter stupidly but probably both.
@Pat Mustard: probably both!
@Tom Purcell: it’s Official Ireland public sector
@Pat Mustard: probably both with a large dollop of HSE INCOMPETENCE……I honestly don’t know what needs to happen in Ireland for people to rebel at the administrative white elephant that is the HSE , a week doesnt pass there isn’t some scandal , some variant of multi million euro settlements , endless meaningless or apologies or else ‘ no wrongdoing accepted’ all the while we employ something like 100000 people , unbelievably spend every cent of the very hight PAYE taxes generated on them – and yet even when the harshest of recessions hit the protected species of. admin pen pushers couldn’t be touched. It beggars belief we accept this as a nation and the only proposed solution by them is a paralysis by analysis tsunami of reports and recommendations that they can waste their time commissioning and faffing around for years to come. They will continue to hide behind the frontline nurses and hardworking doctors and if some political body could grab the nettle by the horns and fix it I am pretty sure they would be rewarded by the Irish people who are sick of HSE incompetence.
@Pat Mustard: They still use fax machines ffs.
@Damon16: I think that’s the problem – they have it of date processes that use out of date equipment, and they don’t have a process for providing raw or digital data between departments due to both incompetence (not being technically able to do it) and incompetence (just being “thick”). State probes, such as Scally’s should have direct access to all justified sources required to do their work, or else the department or individuals should get a mandatory conviction.
@Pat Mustard: Government hiring a new CEO at a cost of probably more millions
http://www.stateboards.ie/stateboards/campaignAdvert/85475.htm
@Dave Hammond: a lot of truth to this
Another scandal. Another Commission. Another Tribunal. Another cover up. Same old story. Is anyone shocked anymore?
Why the minister cannot pick up the phone and ring these Hse people is unbelievable instead, he’s going to write to delay the process even more!!
@The Irish Gripe: time to call in the gardi?
@The Irish Gripe: he’ll probably fax it in
@Bernard Keating: Time sack the HSE Board
@The Irish Gripe:dont phone them or write a letter ,get over there and tell them face to face,and get the job done tell them in no uncertain words that this is an order and it better be obeyed,other than that bring in school leavers to do the job
Well that’s what happens when there is no accountability or responsibility. There needs to be a lot more sackings (not resignations) in the HSE.
Harris used the HSE to direct any criticism from himself. He’s the minister for health and the buck should stop with him. Last week we had the sceptical of him saying he was glad that the HSE apologised for something. Now that’s “pathetic”… he should be apologising for any failures in the health system.
@Stephen Duffy: The PD legacy. Amazes me that while Bertie gets castigated (rightly) Harney, McDowell and others are forgotten. Indeed, the positive coverage McDowell gets is a constant source of amazement to me given what he did. This is a good reminder of what they were all about.
I repeat , can ministers Murphy and Harris please report to the bunker room , quick !
Firstly Heads need to roll and then someone senior and accountable needs to micro manage this in the public domain until the whole sorry mess is figured out.
This is how they work, just seeing what the public gets served every day
What did Simon expect? That this investigation was going to be straightforward? Oh, you mean straightforward like the women who got the cervical screening expected their results to be? Oh Simon, you are so naive.
Or at you just playing at being naive. It’s hard to tell anymore.
….I’m writing to the HSE today….right, bulldozing his way into the HSE there, they should be summoned to his palace and told in no uncertain terms otherwise as CJ would say find a window
What is really absolutely pathetic is our health system, the HSE, our minister for health, our government, all those involved in this scandal starting with Fat Mary Harney, and what happened in the first place that has made an investigation necessary.
If a woman dies because vital medical information regarding a serious condition was deliberately witheld is that not a situation where a manslaughter charge should be considered?
@Squiddley Diddley: Or womanslaughter even.
Mr Burns strikes again.
@Patabake Kennedy: You’d nearly swear that Simon’s hairline is receding.
Only thing missing from that picture is Simon wringing his hands in that I have to look like I really care while saving my a** again way, and Hom….I mean Leo.
Blah, blah, blah…. “unacceptable” yadda, yadda. I believe this mans role is as head of the Irish health service no? So he is criticising his own performance?
Why are they emailing them? Can they not just share them via Google Drive, OneNote etc etc and cut out some of the work
They’re doing what they know can get away with. Experience has told them that politicians care only about their own seat and they’ll find a way to bury this.
@Gerry Ryan: and that if they kick-to-touch long enough the minister will be replaced anyway and then they’ll have time to make or break the replacement, who will then be replaced before he/she can do any damage to their HSE – by “any damage” I mean start sacking civil servants.
@Tom Purcell: Sorry Tom, your last sentence doesn’t make sense. Its strange, I know the words but have never seen them put together like that in Ireland before.
@Tony Le Blanc: and probably never will again ;-)
Its exactly what I excepted would happen and Harris will do nothing other than bark in a letter. Minister for health is only to happy to wait for these women to die blaming the HSE.
This is why FF created the HSE to protect themselves from blame just like Irish water takes the heat away from councils. We need to reduce number within the HSE by between 15,000 to 20,000 asap but that can’t happen until we stand-up to public service unions.
Permanent and pensionable without any accountability must end. until we address this factor we will always be spinning in circles. The only change will be another spineless minister looking like he does not understand the games he is playing.
Sack the top brass and get a private company in to get the evidence. If the HAE staff do not provide in a reasonable timeframe sack whoever is stalling the process.
Doesn’t harris, leo and the gov realize that bad behaviour in state bodies reflects very poorly on themselves.
Simon your the health FFS grow a pair will ya and get this sorted and stop looking so clueless. This is ass covering from the HSE
This is HSE admin all over no accountability the need to make clean sweep of all these incompetent fools. The women of Ireland deserve a lot more than this crap.
I bet they can’t send electronic information to another agency which contain patient identifiers because of data protection legislation. Thats the reason, not a cover up, or incompetence or opaque accountability. Simply its the law.
The women affected by scandal are terminally ill and transparency and accountability shouldn’t be delayed!It’s not fair to them or their families.
They need answers,women all over the country need answers.These delays ,etc only lead to more lack of confidence both in agencies involved plus perceptions of Government which a few weeks ago gave MANY pledges women like Vikki and Emma&bereaved families but PAC meeting with Vikki& Stephen Teal showed a different story.These women and their families deserve better than this and shouldn’t be put under considerable extra stress with delays and pledges given not kept,it’s not fair!
What’s pathetic and unacceptable is that this is how patient information is actually stored.
(Speaking as someone who has been trying to digitise reporting and recording in a HSE facility for over a decade!)
That’s the smoking gun, surely. Whatever it is that the HSE don’t want the public (or anyone else for that matter) to know must be in those documents.
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