Private Hospital suspends cancer care.

[Limerick Lad]

Barrington's Hospital in Limerick has suspended it's breast cancer care services at the request of Minister Mary Harney after concerns about the adequacy and management of care of ten women who attended the services at the hospital from September 2003.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0830/health.html?rss

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhcwojqlcwql/

[ManOfReason]

So Barrington's sends a sample to UCG lab with they determine to be non malignant.

Barrington's think it might be best to send another sample to be sure. UCG lab again says it is non malignant.

Barrington's are pretty sure they know cancer when they see it so they instead send a sample to a private lab -- turns out it is malignant.

Result HSE tell BARRINGTON's to stop breast cancer care and the HSE's UCG lab keeps testing samples.

I guess if you work in private medicine you better not embaress the government with you superior skill or they will shut you down.

[Limerick Lad]

As this story develops it would appear that the Minister should really be looking to keep her own house in order.

The Managing Director of Barrington's Hospital said that a woman attended at Barrington's Hospital but the mistakes were made in the pathology laboratory at University College Hospital in Galway.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0831/health.html?rss

[greengoose]

As this story develops it would appear that the Minister should really be looking to keep her own house in order.

The Managing Director of Barrington's Hospital said that a woman attended at Barrington's Hospital but the mistakes were made in the pathology laboratory at University College Hospital in Galway.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0831/health.html?rss

Sad to see Harney not doing the homework before opening her gob! Shunting the blame elsewhere has it's limitations as we see here. The Health Service needs proper direction.

[johngerard400]

well she supports private hospitals that are there and there only to MAKE MONEY and are not there as in economics as public goods to serve society.

[hiker]

So Barrington's sends a sample to UCG lab with they determine to be non malignant.

Barrington's think it might be best to send another sample to be sure. UCG lab again says it is non malignant.

Barrington's are pretty sure they know cancer when they see it so they instead send a sample to a private lab -- turns out it is malignant.

Result HSE tell BARRINGTON's to stop breast cancer care and the HSE's UCG lab keeps testing samples.

I guess if you work in private medicine you better not embaress the government with you superior skill or they will shut you down.

If this is the correct story then I only hope that the co-location projects are rolled out as soon as possable. If private care is so much superior to public care then the sooner there are more private care facilities the better.

[Kate P]

Apparently there were two separate pathologists in Galway who made the mistakes - and it was Barrington's who forced the issue.

There have been a number of errors in cancer diagnosis lately based on botched lab results. The ones I've heard of all involve breast and cervical cancer. (not saying it's solely a women's issue)

And that's following ridiculous delays in having samples tested because there wasn't sufficient capacity in this country to deal with cervical smear tests. It's extremely worrying, considering how rapidly these cancers can progress.

Why bother encouraging women to be smear tested every two years or setting up Breastcheck if the follow-through can't be relied on.

[johngerard400]

BARRINGTON's to stop breast cancer care is a private hospital cannot wait for more of them, I love the sign at Beacon clinic A$E they open 8-6 pm and closed public holidays and weekends and this is from their website:
Types of conditions that cannot be treated

Severe chest pain
Severe breathing difficulty
Acute and severe stomach pain
Severe burns
Loss of counsciousness
Any problem with a child less that 1 year old
If you find yourself in need of emergency care, you should dial 999 or go to the nearest public Accident and Emergency Department.
site
So this is Harney's idea of the way forward in health care!! SHE SHOULD BE FIRED!!

[Munion]

BARRINGTON's to stop breast cancer care is a private hospital cannot wait for more of them, I love the sign at Beacon clinic A$E they open 8-6 pm and closed public holidays and weekends and this is from their website:
Types of conditions that cannot be treated

Severe chest pain
Severe breathing difficulty
Acute and severe stomach pain
Severe burns
Loss of counsciousness
Any problem with a child less that 1 year old
If you find yourself in need of emergency care, you should dial 999 or go to the nearest public Accident and Emergency Department.
site
So this is Harney's idea of the way forward in health care!! SHE SHOULD BE FIRED!!

Your post makes little or no sense.

Are you angry because the Beacon Clinic A&E doesn't operate in the way you think it should and therefore Minister Harney should be fired for that?

What about in the wider scheme of things. Minister Harney allows these private hospitals to be built so that private patients will be removed from the public system thereby freeing up beds, personnel & money for the public system to work better?

I still have not heard a good argument as to why rich people should get free healthcare?

[Limerick Lad]

BARRINGTON's to stop breast cancer care is a private hospital cannot wait for more of them, I love the sign at Beacon clinic A$E they open 8-6 pm and closed public holidays and weekends and this is from their website:
Types of conditions that cannot be treated

Severe chest pain
Severe breathing difficulty
Acute and severe stomach pain
Severe burns
Loss of counsciousness
Any problem with a child less that 1 year old
If you find yourself in need of emergency care, you should dial 999 or go to the nearest public Accident and Emergency Department.
site
So this is Harney's idea of the way forward in health care!! SHE SHOULD BE FIRED!!

Your post makes little or no sense.

Are you angry because the Beacon Clinic A&E doesn't operate in the way you think it should and therefore Minister Harney should be fired for that?

What about in the wider scheme of things. Minister Harney allows these private hospitals to be built so that private patients will be removed from the public system thereby freeing up beds, personnel & money for the public system to work better?

I still have not heard a good argument as to why rich people should get free healthcare?

"Rich people" Are you living in the real world, the majority of people in Ireland who have private health insurance are not rich people, they're ordinary working people who try to ensure that ill health will not do irreparable damage to their financial futures should they need medical care, just as one insures one's car or house.