HSE and screening service apologise for failings to young mother with cervical cancer

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

The HSE and the National Screening Service has apologised for 'failings' to a young mother of two who is battling cervical cancer.
The 38-year old hairdresser had sued over two cervical smear tests, one in 2016 and one in 2020, two years after the controversy around the screening programme broke and which it was claimed were incorrectly reported as negative.
The apology was read to the court as the young mother Leona Macken and her husband Alan from Artane, Dublin settled a High Court action against the HSE.
The 38-year old mother from Artane, Co Dublin, outside the Four Courts said it felt great to get an apology from the HSE and National Screening Service but after the Vicky Phelan case nobody expected this to happen.
She said:
'I am fighting this since 2023. I started asking questions and thank god I did. We are told to trust the process.
Something is not working in the system. Something needs to be fixed.
"This was 2020 for me and it is still happening; It is not good enough.
In the letter of apology from the chief executive of the National Screening Service, Fiona Murphy, it said on behalf of the service and the HSE, it wished to apologise to Leona, and her family 'for the failings that have occurred and led to your diagnosis.'
It added: 'I wish to express our deep regret to you and your family and acknowledged the many challenges that you have faced as a result of your diagnosis.
"I appreciate that this has been a very difficult time for you and your family and I hope you find some solace with the resolution and conclusion of this process. I hope that this settlement will give you and your family some level of comfort, peace of mind and security.'
Leona Macken's case before the High Court was fast-tracked through the courts system because of the urgency of her diagnosis.
Her counsel, Jeremy Maher SC instructed by Cian O'Carroll solicitors, told the court it was a truly tragic case. Counsel said it was their case, because of failings in the CervicalCheck programme, the two smears in 2016 and 2020 were incorrectly reported and Leona Macken was not diagnosed with cervical cancer until 2023.
He said Ms Macken has now a limited life expectancy and 'what should have been stopped in its tracks was not'.
Leona Macken's claims
In the proceedings, it was claimed that there was an alleged failure to correctly report or diagnose Ms Macken's smear samples in March 2016 and January 2020 and her cancer was allowed to develop and spread unidentified, unmonitored, and untreated until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in May 2023.
It was claimed that the smears taken in March 2016 and 2020 had been incorrectly reported as negative.
It was further contended there was an alleged failure to have effective oversight of the CervicalCheck programme and a failure to have regard to the numbers of women developing cervical cancer despite a history of clear smear tests.
Noting the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said he wished to acknowledge the plea from counsel that the lacuna identified in the Ruth Morrissey case by the Supreme Court be legally filled. This referred to what a husband can claim in such a case. The judge said there was a clear gap in the law.
In the Ruth Morrissey case the Supreme Court upheld an appeal by a testing laboratory against damages awarded to her husband for services which would have been provided to the family by Mrs Morrissey were it not for her shortened life expectancy.