THE CHIEF executive of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, has confirmed a third case of cancer misdiagnosis is expected to come to light soon and that medical files have been taken from Ennis General Hospital for assessment at another facility.
Last night, Minister for Health Mary Harney said she believed the HSE was investigating another case of delayed diagnosis, which she was yet to receive facts about, that may not involve a fatality.
Prof Drumm was responding to questions from Co Clare Fine Gael councillor Joe Cooney, who put several questions to him at the Regional Health Forum West meeting in Galway yesterday.
He asked whether independent inquiries would be held into the cases of Clare cancer victims Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly, both of whom died earlier this year after they were incorrectly given the all-clear from cancer at Ennis hospital. "Prof Drumm said there would be no inquiry at the moment but that the HSE is in consultation with the families.
"I also asked Prof Drumm to confirm whether medical files belonging to other patients have been taken from Ennis General Hospital for re-examination in another hospital and he said that they had but that this was normal procedure. He then confirmed that a third case of misdiagnosis is expected to come to light very soon," Mr Cooney said.
There had been speculation in Clare in recent days that other cases of misdiagnosis would arise. It had been rumoured that as many as two cases could yet come to light and that one of those patients is still alive.
Meanwhile yesterday, director of the national cancer control programme Prof Tom Keane said he did not believe that much would be learned from the establishment of independent inquiries into the cancer misdiagnosis cases at Ennis hospital.
On RTÉ radio Prof Keane said the cases of the late Edel Kelly and Ann Moriarty represented "system failures" but with different root causes. On the value of independent inquiries, he said that it would depend on their purpose.
Families could find closure and accountability from such inquiries and he acknowledged that errors had been made.
However, there was also the issue of what could be learned from such a process.
"[There is] very little we would learn about the system failures. We have already had Portlaoise and Rebecca O'Malley.
"We do understand how to run the systems. There are horrific legacy issues that relate to the sub-optimal way in which we managed ," he said.
Prof Keane said some of the recent cases reflected the former cancer treatment system - which involved the provision of services in a wide range of hospitals.
Considerable progress had been made in replacing this system. Under the new cancer system people should be assured that the likelihood of such incidents happening in the future would be significantly reduced.
Prof Keane said the case of Edel Kelly was "a classic example" of why the former cancer service structure had to be rationalised with a concentration of services into eight centres.
He said that by February or March next year all eight new cancer centres would be operating to very high standards.
While he could not give an absolute assurance that there would never again be cases of delayed diagnosis, such incidents would be reduced to a total minimum.
Separately, Ms Harney said she had asked the Health Information and Quality Authority and the HSE to assess the safety of all services generally at Ennis hospital. She said breast cancer services had been removed, and she now wanted to ensure other services, including accident and emergency, were safe.
Speaking on RTÉ's Prime TimeMs Harney said Ms Kelly and Ms Moriarty had been failed by the Irish health system.