REACTION:THE FAMILY of one of the patients who was misdiagnosed and who developed cancer expressed anger last night over a lack of accountability in the reports published yesterday into the scandal.
Michael Kennedy, the son of Joan Kennedy (79) of Dunkerrin, Co Offaly, who was given the all-clear for breast cancer but was later found to have the disease, said the report was a whitewash.
"No one has been blamed for what went wrong. From the top right down to the bottom, no one will say they made a mistake. There are some blaming machinery, so why wasn't new equipment put in place?" he asked.
"We feel the health system is a scam. There is no accountability. The further up you go in the health service, the worse it gets. A lot of the time it's the nurses and doctors who get the rap, yet if it wasn't for them in this case, the scandal might never have come to light."
Mr Kennedy said the family was considering taking legal action to find out who was responsible for the failures and to ensure such a blunder never happened again.
"We will sit down and talk through the report with some experts. I'm a farmer and can't digest the whole thing, but we want to identify who was responsible and make sure there is some accountability."
Mr Kennedy's mother was given the all-clear following tests in Portlaoise last May. However, following a clinical review of her case, she was told in September she had cancer.
She underwent an operation shortly afterwards and has since made a successful recovery.
"It was a very upsetting time for all of us. Thankfully she didn't need chemotherapy, because to go through that at her age could have driven her into the grave," he said.
"Our main anger is the lack of answers and the lack of accountability. My opinion is that there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. The further up you go, the less likely you are to get answers."
Janette Byrne, a former cancer patient and founder of the Patients Together group, said the release of the reports compounded "the pain and mistrust" felt by cancer patients across the country.
"Patients' needs were failed and the only positive thing I can say is that at least there is now some clarity on the matter. It will not ease their pain and suffering, but it will give them some insight into how these things could happen."
Ms Byrne said the events in Portlaoise had resulted in a nationwide outcry. "The whole nation was appalled, and is again now, at how badly patients could be failed in the system. I hope the Government and the HSE will learn from the experience, but unfortunately history has proved this is not always the case. At the end of the day the report is there but there is still no accountability and nobody has taken responsibility for the mistakes. To me, it seems like the Minister is an outsider looking in on the health service rather than a part of the system," she said.