Yesterday we heard from Vicky Phelan, who now has terminal cervical cancer as a result of abnormalities in her smear test results being overlooked, and who settled a High Court action for €2.5 million.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has announced a review of the cervical screening programme, after it emerged that up to 15 patients may have been misdiagnosed in a 2014 audit of smear tests.
Vicky Phelan's solicitor Cian O'Carroll says there are two main issues: "You have one relating to the quality of screening. The second issue relates to the flow of information
"Obviously mistakes do happen, but for CervicalCheck to keep that information from Vicky Phelan for two years, and then through other delays for her not to learn about it for a further 14 months beyond that, is truly shameful."
Donal Buggy of the Irish Cancer Society says that cases like Vicky Phelan's could potentially undermine confidence in the CervicalCheck programme "if we don't get the response to this right."
"I think it's important that there is an external review and that it is done as quickly as possible in order that we can reassure everybody of the quality of the programme and the communication processes that are in place."
To catch the full chat press the play button on the image on the top of the screen
