203 out of 209 families affected by CervicalCheck controversy have been contacted, HSE reveals

Hospitals have been working since the SIMT was established to contact all the women affected and to discuss the audit with them.

203 families out of the 209 women who have been affected by the CervicalCheck controversy have been contacted by the HSE Serious Incident Management Team (SIMT), the HSE has revealed. Information released in the latest Cervical Check Audit report shows that the health executive has contacted all but six families affected by the misdiagnoses. Meetings have either been held or arranged with them to discuss the audit. To date, 5,849 calls have been returned to women, out of 9,925 call back requests. The HSE is working with the National Cancer Registry of Ireland and the Department of Health to identify any other women who had cervical cancer during this time, who may also have had a CervicalCheck test. Reconciliation of data on relevant cases is currently ongoing between CervicalCheck and NCRI. The controversy relates to 209 women who were diagnosed with cervical cancer following a smear test, but were misdiagnosed at the time. The case was brought to light by Limerick woman Vicky Phelan, a woman who has been recently diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer following years of misdiagnosis. Phelan has since spoken out about the ongoing crisis, claiming that "more heads will have to roll" to rectify the problem. Emma Mhic Mhathúna, another terminally ill woman who's suffered at the hand of the misdiagnoses, received a standing ovation on Friday night's Late Late Show following her emotive speech of her first-hand experience with the CervicalCheck breakdown. Seventeen of the women affected by the scandal who had not been alerted to the possible health risks have died. Only two of them were told of the errors before their death.