Publication
About Dr Scally's Report of the Scoping Inquiry
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
In May 2018, the government approved the appointment of Dr Gabriel Scally, an independent expert, to carry out a Scoping Inquiry into issues relating to CervicalCheck. The Terms of Reference for his Inquiry were prepared following engagement with all political parties and is available here.
Dr Scally provided the first report of his Inquiry to the Minister for Health in June 2018 and the final report in September 2018.
Dr Scally made 56 recommendations in total, and an Implementation Plan for these recommendations is published here.
In this report, Dr Scally says that he is satisfied with the quality management processes in place in the current labs. He found no reason why CervicalCheck’s contracts with the existing providers should not be extended. He pointed to some issues with accreditation and undertook to provide a supplementary report to the Minister on this issue.
Dr Scally found that the HSE’s existing policy was inconsistent and contradictory and should be reviewed to make clear that there is a duty on clinicians to disclose information to patients. This work is underway. He made a number of recommendations about open disclosure and these are now being implemented by the Department of Health and the HSE.
Dr Scally’s report says there was a genuine desire on behalf of CervicalCheck to give women who had developed cancer the opportunity to learn about the audit which had taken place.
His report says there appeared to be no system put in place to monitor whether or not this information was actually given to the women and relatives.
Following the publication of the final report, Dr Gabriel Scally committed to providing a supplementary report into certain further aspects of the laboratories, such as procurement, quality and accreditation arrangements, and governance structures. The Terms of Reference for this report were published. Dr Scally is expected to complete this work shortly.