A REVIEW OF bowel screenings at Wexford General Hospital identified 12 cases of missed cancer as a result of screening misdiagnosis, including one probable avoidable death.
James Fitzpatrick was one of those 12 cases. In March 2014 he was sent for a bowel screening and received the all-clear.
However, one year later he got a very different diagnosis and was told he had bowel cancer after presenting with worrying symptoms.
His daughter Dee spoke to Mary Wilson on Drivetime this evening. She said that Wexford Hospital told the family they are now working on the presumption that her father’s cancer was missed:
It will leave us for the rest of our lives wondering, ‘If things were caught in 2014 would it be different today’. That’s a question we will have forever, that dad will have forever.
Around 600 patients were recalled, due to issues with colonoscopies at the hospital in 2013 and 2014.
Speaking about the revelations, Fitzpatrick said her family had no advance notice before reports in the media surfaced this week.
It really unsettled dad in particular. Where he had been in good spirits, he’s now back questioning everything again.
Fitzpatrick said the family was told a review of her father’s case may now be delayed because of the media leak.
It brings everything back. It’s quite shocking, I mean really physically shocking and you feel quite out of control because somebody has information you don’t know.
“It’s very difficult for him because he is wondering ‘What’s in that report. Will he ever get to read it?’ We don’t know the timeline on that.”
You can listen to the full interview here:
RTÉ Radio 1 / SoundCloud
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