A second health board has started to check cervical smear test results after realising that it used the same laboratory as the North Western Health Board, which has had to recall more than 2,000 smear tests.
Over 1,000 smear tests from women in the North Eastern Health Board areas are now also to be rechecked.
A spokesman for the NEHB said last night that the findings of the North Western Health Board that errors occurred when work was given to Claymon Laboratories in Dublin had prompted a recheck. The NEHB tests involved were carried out during "a short period" in 1997 "for a limited number" of smear test results.
"As of now, the board is not aware of any problem. However, if any discrepancies emerge in the course of the recheck, immediate action will be taken by the board in the interests of patients and patient care," said the NEHB spokesman, adding that the re-testing would take about a week.
When contacted by The Irish Times, a spokesman for Claymon Laboratories would not say if the company had carried out such testing for other health boards or hospitals.
The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, said he had requested an "urgent report" from health boards and voluntary hospitals on the use of the private laboratory. He wanted to establish the extent of the problem and "facilitate appropriate action in the identification of any abnormalities which may have been missed". The laboratory has also been asked to provide a list of the clients for whom it performed this service.
The remaining health boards said yesterday that they had not used Claymon for smear-test results. It is not known if the voluntary hospitals had engaged the private laboratory.
In a statement, Claymon Laboratories, which employs 28 people, and mainly carries out blood testing, said the company had been contacted by Sligo General Hospital in the latter part of 1997, asking it to conduct 2,115 tests on its behalf.
It did not carry out cervical smear testing, it said. However it suggested to the hospital that it could facilitate it in dealing with the backlog by "sourcing the properly qualified medical personnel to carry out the tests".
Sligo General Hospital was at all times aware that the tests would be "out-sourced to professionally qualified personnel who were experienced in this particular area". The names and qualification of the medical personnel involved were supplied for approval.
In February, almost a year after the results were supplied, the laboratory said it was contacted by the hospital saying it had statistically analysed the results and there were fewer abnormal results than would be expected, and they would be independently reviewed. Last week, it was informed that differences had arisen.
The laboratory did not know which tests there were problems with but once it had received the "relevant details" it would assist in every possible way, the spokesman said.
Mr Cowen said that if it was discovered that the laboratory carried out other cervical smears a review of the test results would be required and "appropriate action" taken to follow up any abnormalities. He regretted the concern which had been caused to the women involved, he said, and stressed that regular cervical screening at minimum intervals of five years was the best method available to detect changes in the cells of the cervix.
The Fine Gael spokesman on health, Mr Alan Shatter, said that Mr Cowen must guarantee that all health boards and hospital laboratories in the State were sufficiently resourced to "speedily and accurately" undertake cervical smear testing.
In a statement, Ms Noreen Byrne, chairwoman of the National Women's Council, said she was horrified at the "scandalous error" in the north-west. "We are very conscious of the shock and distress being experienced by the women affected by this dreadful error." The backlog of cervical smears in the area was a clear indication of the "appalling" lack of resources being invested in women's health, particularly at regional level.
"Equally alarming is the obviously questionable level of quality control in the screening of these smear tests. At the end of the day, the Department of Health is responsible for ensuring that the standard of testing is of the highest possible calibre in all areas of the country," she said.