Harney hit as 'missing' cancer care letter found
Health Minister, Mary Harney, was left embarrassed after an official produced a memo that she claimed was lost
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Friday March 07 2008
Mary Harney's credibility as health minister was seriously undermined yesterday when a letter she insisted could not be found was dramatically produced.
The letter raised serious concerns about cancer services in Portlaoise Hospital.
Ms Harney claimed an investigation had failed to discover it.
She made this claim as she appeared before the Oireachtas committee on health following the latest cancer controversy.
To her acute embarrassment the letter was produced by a senior HSE official -- within seconds.
The incident highlighted the huge gaps in communication that exist between the minister and the health service she is responsible for.
And it led to accusations of a cover-up by Fine Gael.
The latest revelations come after a series of damning reports on the handling of the cancer crisis by HSE managers.
They also follow the disclosure that the rate of breast cancer misdiagnosis in Portlaoise was six times higher than the best diagnostic centres, due to a lack of proper checks.
The controversial letter was from Portlaoise surgeon Peter Naughton. Written in 2002, he warned he was in a state of "deep frustration and despair" at the failure to appoint surgeons, a radiologist or pathologist to the cancer unit.
Services at that point "were worse than they were seven years earlier" in the midlands for public patients, he claimed.
The hospital was infamously involved in a massive cancer misdiagnosis scandal last year with the reverberations still felt in the HSE and Department of Health. Three reports were published this week into the scandal.
Rebecca O'Malley, who had to wait 14 months for a correct diagnosis of her cancer, last night told of a meeting with Minister Harney shortly after she went public with her story.
"She said: 'Rebecca and Tony, (her husband), you do know, don't you, it isn't safe to go into any of our hospitals'."
She said that was quite a remarkable and unforgettable comment for a Health Minister to make.
The HSE has been criticised for its handling of the cancer diagnosis crisis, which led to nine women wrongly getting the all-clear for breast cancer.
One of the reports highlighted the poor communication between the HSE and the Department of Health --which was underlined yesterday by the surprise discovery of the letter.
Yesterday the minister was asked about the existence of the letter when she appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children with HSE chief Brendan Drumm and his top officials.
She told Fine Gael TD James Reilly that her department had no record of such a letter -- but this was promptly followed by production of the document by Ann Doherty, a senior HSE official.
Ms Harney had just told the committee: "As for Mr Naughton's letter to (her predecessor) Minister Martin. When Deputy Reilly raised it (in November) I asked the department to carry out an investigation and they were not able to find any letter to my predecessor from Mr Naughton.
"I haven't asked for further inquiries of late -- I can do so in light of what you said this morning. But in so far as they could they could not find any correspondence prior to the letter to me in 2005."
And then she said: "I have just got a note from Ann Doherty and she says he did get a letter as part of her inquiry."
Earlier the minister conceded: "We need clearer lines of communication with the HSE. Clearly that is a lesson we have to learn and I have to learn as well."
Misdiagnosis
Ms Doherty, who drew up a report on circumstances surrounding the misdiagnosis scandal in Portlaoise, said she received the letter from Dr Naughton.
"Why was it unavailable under FOI (Freedom of Information) request. Was the file tampered with and if so who is responsible?" he asked.
The letter was sent to Mr Martin, five years before exposure of the blunders. It warned that although Portlaoise was the designated breast cancer centre for the midlands in 2001, it was still without key staff.
Mr Naughton detailed how no appointments had yet been made of two surgeons, a radiologist with a special interest or expertise in mammography, nor a histopathologist .
"Indeed they have not even been advertised or has any discussion take place with me as to what will happen in the future. "We do not have an oncologist in the Midlands ; we do not have a consultant radiotherapy delivered service in the Midlands."
Mr Naughton said he had written to senior management "about seven times" in the past two years outlining suggestions to deal with the problems.
Key dates in the Naughton letter affair
November 21, 2007: Minister Mary Harney is asked in the Dail if there are any other letters about Portlaoise Hospital "languishing" in the Department of Health.
Fine Gael Deputy James Reilly asks what systems are in place to ensure early warnings from staff are acted on.
The minister replies she has only become aware of a 2005 warning letter from Mr Naughton describing breast cancer services in Portlaoise as a shambles a few weeks earlier.
"I do not know if there are any other letters. We have in recent times involved the chief medical officer and his team .
"There is a team of medics in the department and I want to see them involved in patient safety issues."
March 6, 2008: Mr Reilly asks Ms Harney at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children about a 2002 letter about Portlaoise written to the Health Minister.
Ms Harney says there is no record of it in the department.
However, Ann Doherty, interim head of the National Hospital's Office in the HSE, produces it from a file.
Mr Naughton had sent it to her when she was compiling evidence for her report on the Portlaoise breast cancer controversy.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
