‘This bill is Vicky’s legacy’ - Patient safety legislation passed in the Dáil after CervicalCheck controversy

Legislation that will establish mandatory open disclosure in the healthcare system passed through the Dáil on Wednesday evening.

The Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019 will now go to the Seanad and is then expected to be signed into law by President Michael D Higgins.

An amendment was brought forward by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly which will make it mandatory for patients to be informed of their right to patient-requested reviews following representations from the 221+ CervicalCheck support group.

Mr Donnelly said the Bill was brought forward as a result of Vicky Phelan and others who had taken a “brave and difficult stance”.

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The minister said the Bill, which is dealing with the legacy of the CervicalCheck scandal, included 115 pages of complex and important legislation.

[ ‘She made every minute matter’: Vicky Phelan memorial remembers person behind ‘nation’s treasure’ ]

[ Vicky Phelan: Even heroes need to rest ]

[ ‘Inconsistent’ smear reporting flagged a decade before CervicalCheck controversy ]

The issue surfaced in 2018 after Ms Phelan, who had cervical cancer, settled her High Court case for €2.5 million after she was given incorrect smear test results.

It emerged that hundreds of women diagnosed with cervical cancer were not told about an audit of past smear tests. The HSE said at the time that in the cases of more than 200 women, the audit found on look-back that their screening tests “could have provided a different result or a warning of increased risk or evidence of developing cancer”.

Labour TD Alan Kelly said the legislation was the most important he had ever worked on in his life while his promise to Ms Phelan was that “nothing would be left undone”.

“We’ve done so much done in relation to HPV, screening, in relation to testing, bringing the labs back, we’ve more work to do, there are other pieces [of legislation] in relation to the Civil Liability Bill and in relation to dying with dignity. They are broader issues.

“But for me, this bill is Vicky’s legacy. This bill does bring a certain benchmark and a certain closure and that’s why it’s so critically important to myself, to Lorraine Walsh, to Stephen Teap and everybody else.”

Sinn Féin’s health spokesman David Cullinane said mandatory open disclosure was “really important” and there was now legislation that would “pass the Vicky test”.

Mr Cullinane said there was “a lot of hurt and a lot of pain” that many families had to go through because of the CervicalCheck scandal and that tribute should also be paid to Dr Gabriel Scally.

“I think we also have to accept that we have a long way to go in terms of many of the issues Dr Scally recommended…they can not be long fingered and the issue of being to make a complaint on an issue of clinical judgment is not one that we can now just forget about and put on the long finger,” he said.

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said while it was an important piece of legislation, it was also “a very poignant occasion” with the women affected held “front and centre” throughout the debate.

“Those women who lost their lives as a result of what happened in CervicalCheck and those also whose lives were turned upside down as a result of what happened and who have survived,” she said.

“We also think of all of their families who have had a terrible time, whether they are families that were bereaved or families who are coping with a very serious diagnosis and all of the treatment that is involved with that.

“I think it’s an enormous tribute to all of those women and the memory of all of those women and other women and men in the 221+ group who have not let this issue rest, who have campaigned vigorously over recent years to ensure that we don’t repeat mistakes of the past and that we have robust legislation in place.”