Hospital moved patient for 'care' reasons

Dublin's Mater hospital would not comment last night on allegations made yesterday by a woman about her treatment there.

The woman, who has suspected stomach cancer, alleged an operation she was to undergo at the Mater was cancelled and she was transferred to Beaumont hospital after a doctor at the Mater said he was under pressure because of publicity which followed publication of a book by her daughter and other issues.

The book, If It Were Just Cancer: A Battle for Dignity and Life by Janette Byrne, spokeswoman for the Patients Together group, was published last October by Veritas and includes criticisms by the author of conditions at the Mater hospital which she said she witnessed while a cancer patient there.

The hospital has begun legal action against Veritas.

The allegations, made on RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline programme yesterday, were by Janette Byrne's mother Kathleen.

Last night a spokesman for the Mater told The Irish Times that management there did not comment on clinical issues associated with patient care.

Mrs Byrne told Liveline presenter Joe Duffy that the Mater doctor gave his reasons for transferring her to Beaumont at a meeting attended by herself, her husband Brendan, and their daughters Irene and Janette. Both Brendan and Janette Byrne confirmed this on the programme.

She said that at Beaumont the doctor to whom she was transferred said it was because of her "being on Joe Duffy last week and because of the media situation involving the Mater".

In a statement read on Liveline yesterday, the Mater said the recommendation for her transfer was made in the best interest of her care and clinical best practice based on the medical information. Mrs Byrne dismissed this as "not true".

Also yesterday, "Rosie", a 40-year-old mother of two who is terminally ill with bowel cancer and who claimed last week that this was due to her being on a waiting list for seven months, issued a statement saying blame lay with the system and not medical staff. "There was no 'failure of communication' between my GP and the hospital. I was put on a waiting list for a colonoscopy because I do not have VHI [ cover]," she said.

"It is Government policy that put me on a seven-month-long waiting list for a colonoscopy. The failure to diagnose me in time to save my life lies squarely with the Minister for Health Mary Harney and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern."

She called on both to resign.

She also said she was upset at a remark Ms Harney made on RTÉ television's Questions and Answers programme last Monday night. Referring to the case, the Minister said you will "always have mistakes that happen". Last night Rosie told The Irish Times she thought the Minister's remark was "rather insensitive".