A Labour TD has slammed the “toxic” treatment of one of the victims of the cervical cancer screening scandal.
Leading patient advocate Lorraine Walsh, who was diagnosed with the disease after previously receiving inaccurate test results, clashed with the most senior Government health adviser in a series of newly-released documents.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan accused her of making a “defamatory and untrue” statement after she heavily criticised him over the controversy.
In a letter from the Department of Health on March 13, Dr Holohan warned Ms Walsh if any of her claims were published, she should “anticipate a very strong response”.
He added: “You have also issued tweets in which you have made baseless allegations against me which are at variance with the facts.
“I would ask you to acknowledge by return this correspondence, withdraw allegations made in your tweets of yesterday, March 12, and that you refrain from making further baseless allegations in respect of me and my role.”
Dr Holohan goes on to invite Ms Walsh for talks before their next CervicalCheck Steering Group meeting.
The Galway woman is one of the more than 220 patients affected by failures in the system.
The correspondence was released under the Freedom of Information following a request by Labour’s Alan Kelly and RTE.
Mr Kelly called for Health Minister Simon Harris to explain the “appalling treatment” of Ms Walsh. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said Mr Harris was not aware of the letter in advance of it being sent to Ms Walsh.
She added: “The Minister accepts the context as outlined in the Freedom of Information request.
“The Minister is in regular contact with the patient advocates and believes it is vital we support them and ensure their input is valued and respected, as does the Department of Health.
“He, the Chief Medical Officer and the patient advocates are united in their goal of effectively eradicating cervical cancer within a generation.”
Mr Kelly said the correspondence released to him between Dr Holohan and Ms Walsh shows “the toxic
atmosphere that has existed between officials and those who have sought answers on the Cervical Check scandal”.
He added: “The documents show the Chief Medical Officer accused Ms Walsh of making ‘a defamatory and untrue statement’ and all but threatened legal action against a patient advocate who has sought answers and accountability for what happened to women across Ireland. The CMO then sought mediation to resolve the dispute.
“The FOI release of correspondence indicates no further efforts have been made to address this issue.
“This evidence released today confirms a dysfunctional attitude within the department towards those who have sought answers, and worked to ensure the CervicalCheck issue is not repeated.
“The FOI decision letter also seeks to provide an explanation from the department for the content of the documents being released.
“I am really surprised the Minister for Health dragged his feet for so long on releasing this information but the contents help explain this.
“The Minister should also tell us what he knows about this dispute and if he agrees with his CMO when did he find out and does he agree with findings by Scally about the treatment of patient reps.”
