A private hospital has been ordered by the Department of Health to suspend its treatment of breast cancer patients after concerns emerged about the manner in which up to 10 women were cared for.
Barringtons Hospital in Limerick said it was awaiting full details of the cases before commenting in detail.
Prof Rajnish Gupta, consultant medical oncologist at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, said yesterday he had been raising concerns with the Department of Health and the HSE about the manner in which breast cancer services were being delivered at the private hospital for the past three to four years, but little happened.
However, after it emerged earlier this month that a 51-year-old woman who attended Barringtons in 2005 had her breast cancer diagnosis delayed by 18 months - following an error in reading her specimen when it was sent for analysis to University College Hospital Galway by Barringtons - the attention of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) was drawn to the treatment given to a further nine women at the hospital over the past four years. The authority passed on the information to the Department of Health.
The department's chief medical officer was then sent to Barringtons and asked it to suspend the delivery of breast services. The hospital agreed and the Mid-Western Regional Hospital was asked to see the patients instead.
Some 14 patients scheduled to be seen the following week (commencing August 13th) at Barringtons were seen instead at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.
The department yesterday issued a statement on behalf of Minister for Health Mary Harney late last night. It said the care given to all 10 women would now be independently investigated, as will care given to women who presented for breast cancer treatment at Barringtons between September 2003 and August 2007. The Medical Council had been informed of concerns raised.
"An independent clinical examination is required into the clinical care of patients who presented at the symptomatic breast disease service at Barringtons Hospital, Limerick between September 2003 and August 2007. The department is in discussions with the Office of the Attorney General and Barringtons Hospital on bringing this forward as soon as possible," Ms Harney said.
The advice of the attorney general has been sought as it is not clear if the State has the authority to investigate a private hospital.
Áine O'Malley, spokeswoman for Barringtons said: "We are currently in part receipt of the information provided to HIQA by Prof Gupta and at this stage we feel it's inappropriate to comment because we haven't been in full receipt of that information to date . . . but as soon as we receive all the information we will review it," she said.
Prof Gupta said the way to look after cancer patients was to have them treated by a multidisciplinary team and he had been saying this for a number of years. This was not happening in Barringtons, he said.
Not enough cases of breast cancer surgery were being carried out at the hospital every year to make it safe, he said. Some women treated in Barringtons had rang breast cancer nurses in his unit in "a desperate state", he said.