Sharon Butler Hughes, the lady whose anonymous cervical check case came to national attention in July, warranting a week’s long coverage on RTE news, after it exposed flaws with an IT system at Quest Diagnotics which lead to delays and mix-ups with smear test result letters for women, has this week withdrawn her contribution to the MacCraith Rapid Review Report.
The Professor Brian MacCraith Rapid Review Report was commissioned by HSE CEO Paul Reid on Monday July 15th 2019, immediately after RTE’s health correspondent Fergal Bowers broke Sharon’s story on RTE news. The review promised to examine the series of events within the Cervical Check programme that occurred following reported IT issues in Quest Diagnostics relating to the HPV test expiration for a number of women and the retesting process.
Naturally, the report focuses a lot on the issues exposed by Ms Butler Hughes, but it also mandates that “the person affected and or their family” be given “the opportunity to consider the draft report and to provide feedback particularly in relation to matters of factual accuracy”. Speaking to Luke Peter Silke, Sharon Butler Hughes confirmed that she was not given enough time to read the report when she got a copy of it just in advance of it being published. She took issue with an official from the Department of Health’s recollection of a phone call she had with the department on the 9th July 2019, in which Sharon claims she was told that the Miniter had been ‘fully briefed’ on the IT issue. The Minister later claimed that he was not aware of the issue until the following day, despite initially saying in the Seanad that Friday that he had been made aware on the 9th July.
Sharon wished to meet with Minister Harris to discuss this with him, but the Minister informed her that he would only agree to meet with her on condition that they would not “revisit” the issue of the “misunderstanding” regarding this phone call. At the Health Committee meeting on October 2nd 2019 the Health Minister caved to presure from Fianna Fáil’s health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly TD and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD and agreed to meet with Sharon without placing preconditions on the meeting.
A date was subsequently set for that meeting, but Minister Harris dropped out with just hours to go. He cited legal advice as influencing his decision, telling Sharon that he had been made aware of a letter of claim which had been issued on Sharon’s behalf. However, Sharon has confirmed that she did not issue a letter of claim to the Department of Health, so the question remains as to how the Minister became aware of this letter, whether there is a breach of GDPR here, and indeed what bearing did this letter have on the meeting scheduled between Sharon and the Minister? Solicitor Caoimhe Haughey has confirmed that Ms Butler Hughes’ “contribution to the MacCraith report has been withdrawn, the HSE has not contacted us so we are now considering our position on steps we can take to have it, in its current format, removed from the HSE website.”
Ms Butler Hughes says that the decision to withdraw her contribution to the MacCraith report was “not a decision I made lightly, but I feel as though I was left with no choice”. Referencing her problems with the report she added; “I have tried addressing the issue to An Taoiseach, Minister Harris and the HSE, but have felt constantly disrespected and ignored”.
Sinn Féin health spokesperson, Louise O’Reilly TD responded that she was “Sorry to hear you were left with no other option, patients and advocates should be listened to”. In a statement, Fianna Fáil health spokesperson said that “Sharon Butler Hughes fought bravely to uncover serious flaws in Cervical Check. She deserves respect and cooperation. She is the latest patient advocate to be left with no choice but to withdraw from patient advocacy. It is not okay for people to be treated like this”. Aontú’s Deputy Peadar Tóibín said of Sharon that “its not easy to stand up to the system”, adding that Sharon’s action was “in stark contrast to Simon Harris'”.
In a further statement last night, Deputy Tóibín argued that the cervical check scandal “has not passed” and that this must be borne in mind, “regardless of what government is formed over the next few months”. He added that “issues are not solved. Questions are not all answered. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Butler Hughes for the great deal of work she has done for the women of Ireland. Sharon is an honest lady, she is a fighter, and I think the Minister really chose the wrong woman to fight with in this instance.”
Stephen McMahon, the co-founder of the Irish Patients’ Association last night issued a statement on the matter saying; “yet another patient advocate withdraws, is there any end? Trust must be restored between patient advocates and the system, both sides need to be respected and valued and demonstrated to be so if any progress is to be made”.
In a seperate development, Maternity Patient and Open Disclosure Advocate, Lorraine Reilly who lost two daughters during delivery in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe in 2008 and 2010, has said that advocates have ‘lost faith’. “Too many advocates are stepping down from boards because they are not been heard. This makes me so angry”, she said.
Luke Peter Silke 