The Health Service Executive (HSE) has said it is to carry out an investigation into the handling of X-rays at Tallaght hospital.
The announcement comes following yesterday's disclosure that almost 58,000 X-rays taken over a four-year period were never reviewed by a consultant radiologist.
Two cancer patients received a delayed diagnosis as a result of the error. One of these patients has since died, while the other is being treated at the hospital.
Minister for Health Mary Harney, who is in New Zealand, said today that while she had first learnt of the issue in December last, it was only yesterday that she became aware of the scale of the problem.
In a statement released early this morning, the HSE said the investigation would be independent both of the executive and of Tallaght hospital.
Representatives from the Health Service Executive including Dr Barry White, the HSE's national director of Quality and Clinical Care and Dr Risteárd Ó Laoide, consultant radiologist at St Vincent's Hospital, are to meet clinicians from the hospital later today to ensure that a review of outstanding X-rays is concluded as early as possible.
Two cancer patients received a delayed diagnosis as a result of the error. One of these patients has since died, while the other is being treated at the hospital.
Some 57,921 adult X-rays between 2005 and the end of 2009 should have been reviewed by a consultant radiologist. However, the majority were reviewed by a “non-radiologist”, according to the hospital.
Tallaght hospital’s chief executive-designate Prof Kevin Conlon said he became aware of the problem when he was appointed on December 14th last year. However, it has since emerged that concerns were raised by GPs over the handling of X-rays at the hospital as early as last summer.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland earlier today, Ms Harney said she only learned of the scale of the problem yesterday, despite being aware of the issue since last December.
"This is not a huge scandal of misdiagnosis," Ms Harney insisted. "What we know is the 57,000 X-rays were not read by a radiologist.
"There is no such thing as a hospital free of medical error anywhere in the world...what we're trying to do is minimise mistakes," she added. "We will never have a system in which errors don't occur but what's important here is that when they do the bad practice stops, we carry out an enquiry and we learn lessons."
Prof Conlon said the handling of X-rays at Tallaght hospital was “totally unacceptable” and arose from “systemic and process failures”. He said he immediately arranged for the hiring of extra consultants and additional administrative and technical support to help clear the backlog after becoming aware of the issue.
“Every patient who has an X-ray at Tallaght hospital now has a report generated from a consultant radiologist. There are no unreported X-rays from September 2009,” he said.
“I now receive a weekly report on progress which just shows a backlog today reduced by 34,752 to 23,169. The backlog will be cleared entirely by May.” Prof Conlon said staff were working longer hours and over weekends to clear the backlog.
“It is to the hospital’s deep regret that there have been two patients who have had a delayed diagnosis as a result of this. One of these persons is under treatment at the hospital for a cancer. The other patient died at the hospital last summer.
Speaking on Morning Ireland today, he said he it was important to restore the faith in the system and in the hospital. "At the moment my whole focus is to solve this problem," he added.
When asked why it has taken three months for the facts to emerge if he was aware of them last December, Prof Conlon said the hospital “didn’t want to alarm people unnecessarily”.
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association said it shared the concerns of adult patients whose diagnoses had been delayed. It said consultant radiologists had brought the "growing delay" in reporting X-rays to management at the hospital over the past number of years and that "in excess of forty letters" had been sent.
The Irish Cancer Society today said full transparency around the causes of the failure at Tallaght hospital was needed to restore public trust.
“What has been termed a “systems failure” must be fully explained and the findings of the independent investigation currently underway should be conducted with speed and the results published without delay,” head of advocacy, Kathleen O’Meara, said.
Ms O’Meara said there had been many positive developments in the delivery of cancer care over the last number of years, but warned “incidents like these have the effect of undermining public confidence and trust and this must be addressed”.
Tallaght hospital has set up a freephone helpline for patients and their families who may be concerned. It can be accessed at 1800 283 059. Lines are open from 9am to 5pm.