The independent expert probing the CervicalCheck scandal claims his work was damaged by the demand for heads to roll ahead of his report being published.
Dr Gabriel Scally has carried out several major investigations in his role as a senior public health doctor in England – but revealed nothing compares to our latest health crisis.
Born and trained in Belfast, Dr Scally was last year asked by the Department of Health to lead a scoping inquiry into the CervicalCheck programme.
The request came after a public outcry when it was revealed the smear tests of 221 women – including whistleblower Vicky Phelan – were misread and they were not told about an audit into the checks.
But Dr Scally said the media and political maelstrom that surrounded the CervicalCheck debacle was nothing like he had ever seen.
Dr Scally told the Sunday Business Post: “This one was really quite remarkable, or remarkably different.
“Typically, when one of these things happen that I’ve been involved in, either in the North or in England, there’s a really serious problem identified and it’s decided there’ll be an investigation into it or an inquiry.
“And usually there’s a pause. The pause button is pushed and people wait to see the outcome of the inquiry.” But he added there was never a pause over CervicalCheck as those affected and members of the public demanded answers.
Dr Scally said the “toxic mixture of politics, media and law” was an “impediment” to his investigations.
He claimed it led to “snap judgments, erroneous facts and some very wild statements from a lot of people which were most, most unhelpful”.
He added: “During that fevered period when all these misleading claims were made, there were very few – I thought – really senior doctors standing up and explaining it.”
In response to public outcry, the former clinical director of CervicalCheck Grainne Flannelly stepped down, as did ex-HSE chief Tony O’Brien.
Dr Scally said the clamour for someone to be held responsible was not helpful.
He added: “A headlong rush to identify someone who can be blamed rarely ends well.
“Some of the public discourse here seemed to be focused on the rapid identification of who did wrong before the facts were established.
“I don’t know whether that’s the norm in the Republic, whether that’s the way the system works or not.
“But the net effect of it is not helpful. It’s not helpful in moving things on. It’s not helpful in finding the facts. It’s not helpful in getting to the bottom of things.”
