'Releasing cancer records could cause strike'

[Posted: Mon 28/07/2008 by Niall Hunter, Editor]

The HSE has refused to release documentation under FOI relating to the Rebecca O'Malley breast cancer misdiagnosis case on the grounds that releasing it could lead to industrial action by staff.

However, similar documentation had already been released under FOI by the Health Information and Quality Authority, which carried out the Rebecca O' Malley investigation.

irishhealth.com, in an FOI request to the HSE, had asked for copies of correspondence beween the Mid- Western Regional Hospital (MWRH)  and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) regarding the Rebecca O'Malley review that HIQA recently carried out.

Ms O'Malley had been treated at MWRH and her pathology test was carried out in Cork University Hospital (CUH). The HIQA investigation team also reviewed 24 other women in all who had followed a similar care pathway to Ms O'Malley.

The report of the HIQA review, published back in April, was critical of the HSE, MWRH and Cork University Hospital on how they responded to Ms O'Malley's concerns on her misdiagnosis and highlighted communications and management deficiencies in and between the two hospitals and the wider HSE.

The HSE, in its response to irishhealth.com's request for copies of correspondence relating to the case, refused to release two files of relevant documents for a number of reasons and released a very limited amount of documentation.

The reasons given for the refusal to release the documents included: that their release could lead to industrial action being taken for those staff involved in the investigation; that the release could affect confidence among the current staff group and negatively affect the management team's ability to manage; and that the release could damage staff's willingness to engage in future reviews.

Other reasons included that there was an obligation on the HSE to protect privacy;  and that there could be a fear that clients will feel they cannot trust the service if personal information is given out to the media.

However, irishhealth.com also sought similar documentation from HIQA, asking for correspondence between the Authority and MWRH relating to the Rebecca O' Malley case.

According to the schedule of records provided to us by HIQA, it released 77 relevant records and refused to release only one, the latter being refused on grounds of condfidentiality and the fact that the records related to a deliberative process which was ongoing, thereby excluding it from the terms of FOI release.

In the records released by HIQA, the name of all officials and medical/clinical staff in the HSE/MWRH were deleted, as were patient names and dates of birth.

It is therefore not clear why the HSE claimed that releasing similar data would adversely affect confidentiality or the ability to deliver services, as it could have deleted reference to staff or patient names.

HIQA said there was no reason to refuse to release all but one of the relevant documents as they passed the 'public interest' test, under the FOI Act, whereby the public interest factor outweighs all other possible factors such as threats to confidentiality or to future effective delivery of services.

The MWRH, however, claimed that the release of the bulk of similar documents relating to the same case
could not be granted, for reasons that HIQA appears to have considered and rejected for withholding the records sought.

The documentation released by HIQA shows that while HSE did cooperate with HIQA in its inquiry, there were long delays in the provision of some important documentation to HIQA by the HSE.

HIQA, in the Rebecca O'Malley report, thanked  the many health officials and clinical staff who participated openly and cooperatively in the investigation.