Patients of a surgeon struck off for inappropriate behaviour towards three male patients today demanded an urgent meeting with the Minister for Health over a decision not to publish a report into the case relating to Michael Shine.
Support group Dignity 4 Patients said the alleged victims gave evidence at great emotional cost and said it was inexcusable the Drogheda Review was not going to be made public.
Bernadette Sullivan, a former nurse who founded the group, revealed several requests for information on a publication date have been ignored by the Department of Health.
“Dignity 4 Patients discovered that the report was not being published as a Dáil Question. That is inexcusable,” she said.
The group says160 patients have claimed they were abused while Mr Shine worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for 30 years up to 1994.
Former High Court Judge TC Smyth was appointed by Mary Harney to hear complaints made against the disgraced consultant to decide if a full inquiry would benefit patient safety. It was carried out in June.
However, the Minister this week told the Dáil: “We will not see it for the foreseeable future. The judge has recommended that it should not be made public because there are possible criminal proceedings on the matter.”
Ms Sullivan said Ms Harney, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, and Attorney General Paul Gallagher were fully aware a criminal investigation was in place when they established this review.
“Dignity 4 Patients is demanding an urgent meeting with the Minister,” she added. “The Minister must bear full responsibility for the impact of her decision on the people who have complained of sexual assault.”
In 2003, Mr Shine, who is now in his late 70s, was acquitted of 11 counts of indecent assault on six teenage boys between 1974 and 1982.
But five years later he was struck off the medical register for professional misconduct by the Medical Council, which found he committed assaults on three male patients and undertook inappropriate medical examinations.
He was arrested at his home in Dublin in May of this year and taken to Drogheda Garda station for questioning before being released without charge.
Dignity 4 Patients said a full public inquiry is vital in uncovering the details to ensure measures are in place to protect patients.
Labour Party spokeswoman on Health Jan O'Sullivan said the decision not to publish the Shine review was "very disappointing and frustrating".
"The Labour Party believes that the findings of this review should be made public, notwithstanding claims by Mary Harney that it could prejudice some future legal proceedings," she said.
Later, the Department of Health confirmed a meeting between the Minister and patients would take place next week.
"The position is that the Minister will meet with the patient support groups next week on the Judge Smyth report as promised when the review was set up," a spokesman said.
Additional reporting PA