Hospital says patients unaffected by delays in getting genetic test results

The national centre for medical genetics at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Dublin, has said there is no indication that any patients suffered adverse consequences as a result of delays in giving them the results of positive tests for inherited cardiac disease.

The hospital said last night it had contacted all 69 patients who had not previously been told that a genetic test for the condition taken at the facility had shown an abnormal result.

On Thursday it emerged that 69 patients, including seven children, who had tested positive for inherited cardiac disease had never been given their results.

An investigation into the cause of the delay is under way, and one employee has been suspended.

The hospital said a further 128 patients with abnormal results had been contacted previously but a final clinical letter had not been issued to the referring doctors. These letters would be sent out shortly.

The hospital said only patients who had tests to establish if they had a genetic disorder that increased their susceptibility to inherited heart disease were affected by the delay. In all, 506 tests for the inherited cardiac disease carried out between February 2011 and November 2013 were the subject of a review.