Talk:Medical Council of Ireland

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Call for inquiry into Medical Council's handling of complaint

The family of a woman who died from cancer nearly three years ago have called for an independent inquiry into the Medical Council's handling of their complaint about her treatment. Eileen Kenny had previously settled a medical negligence case against her treating consultant oncologist about aspects of her care, but had also lodged a complaint with the Medical Council. The family's call came following the broadcast of Ms Kenny's story on RTÉ Radio One's "Documentary on One" programme. Ms Kenny was first diagnosed with cancer in 2008, after a tumour was found in her stomach. Surgery and chemotherapy led to Ms Kenny getting the all clear in early 2009. She also received another scan in February 2010. However, she learned in late 2012 that the cancer had returned. Ms Kenny had been given a scan in February of that year, but said that she was never told of the results of that scan, which showed a clear recurrence of the disease. Her husband Jim Kenny told RTÉ News that his wife had not been aware that her cancer was high-risk and needed to be monitored with regular scans, but that there were no scans carried out for two years between 2010 and 2012. Listen: Documentary on One - A Fight To The End Mr Kenny said that his wife should have started targeted treatment for her cancer recurrence in February 2012, but he said "she was left for eight months without treatment, when she had an aggressive cancer that was spreading, and it was spreading out of control". He said that Ms Kenny was suffering at that time. "She was in pain, she wasn't able to eat, she wasn't able to sleep," he said. It was this that led to a civil medical negligence case being taken against her treating consultant oncologist at the time. The case was settled with a financial pay out and Ms Kenny received an apology from the consultant. As part of that case, her doctor made admissions that he should have carried out a scan on Ms Kenny in 2011 and that he failed to treat her promptly in 2012. However the extent of the injuries were disputed. Ms Kenny had complained to the Medical Council because, her husband says, she wanted there to be professional accountability for what had happened. Her complaint was examined by the council's complaints screening committee, who recommend whether or not a complaint should proceed to a full hearing. The Medical Council later decided that the doctor in question had no case to answer. This decision was based on relevant documentation as well as the opinion of an independent medical expert. However, Ms Kenny's family claim that this expert opinion contained a factual inaccuracy, that Ms Kenny had received annual scans, when in fact there was a two-year gap in her scans between 2010 and 2012. Their family's solicitor, Neil Kidd, told RTÉ News that they had informed the Medical Council of this inaccuracy before its final decision was made. The Medical Council says once one of their medical experts makes a report saying a doctor has done nothing wrong, or nothing seriously wrong, they have to find that doctor has no case to answer. Mr Kidd said "That expert in his opinion, stated that Eileen had been monitored and scanned annually and on that basis, he was happy that whilst there were failings in the care that she received, they weren't sufficient to warrant a full Medical Council Hearing. "The reality though, which everybody accepted, including the defendant, was that Eileen wasn't monitored annually, there was a two-year gap in their scanning," he said. "Notwithstanding that error in the Medical Council's expert report, they proceeded to make their decision on the basis of that opinion, despite the fact that we had informed them that there was a factual error in the report" Mr Kidd said that factual error need to be looked at, and the opinion amended, if appropriate, before any decision was made on the outcome of the complaint. He said the expert "should be informed of the correct facts and asked to look at it again, and make sure they're satisfied that the original opinion they gave is one they continue to stand over given the correct factual information". Ms Kenny's husband Jim has called for an independent inquiry as to how the Medical Council investigated his wife's complaint. He said he was doing this "because it was disgraceful". "We can't bring Eileen back from the grave, but errors can be corrected and wrongs can be righted, and that's a good thing," he said. In a statement the Medical Council said it "acknowledges the grief and loss felt by the family involved in today's Documentary on One". It say it "sympathises with them on their loss". But the Medical Council says it has "no statutory power to comment on individual complaints", and particularly when it's been dealt with by the complaints screening committee. The Irish Patients' Association also commented on Ms Kenny's story. Stephen McMahon called for the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to "intervene" and to "review this case in the public interest", or to seek a Judicial Review to examine how the Medical Council dealt with Ms Kenny's case.Laura Hogan RTE News Report. KYNIFE (talk) 18:45, 5 March 2024 (UTC)