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208 people contacted over CervicalCheck controversy

The HSE said the information line established on 28 April continues to operate
The HSE said the information line established on 28 April continues to operate

The Health Service Executive said it has now contacted 208 of the first group of 209 women or families affected by the CervicalCheck controversy.

It said the HSE's community health organisations have appointed liaison officers, who have so far been in touch with 198 of the women or families and will continue to try to contact the remaining women or families, in order to offer them a range of supports, announced by the Government.

The services involve medical cards, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, home care packages, counselling, disability services, medication, transport and childcare costs and other supports.

The HSE said it continues to work with the National Cancer Registry of Ireland and the Department of Health, to identify any other women who had cervical cancer since 2008, who may also have had a CervicalCheck test.

The HSE is finalising the matching process with the National Cancer Registry and said it expects that this will "progress to the next stage early next week".

This will identify another group of women to be reviewed.

The overall review is to be carried out by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, with expert input from the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology.

The HSE said the information line established on 28 April continues to operate and women are being offered the facility to receive a call-back.

CervicalCheck helpline

Since 28 April, it said that 23,428 calls have been answered from women and the HSE has received 11,551 requests for calls to be returned.

The HSE said that the volume of calls and requests for calls to be returned has slowed significantly and that there are additional calls that need to be returned, to fully close out earlier calls and requests.

The scoping inquiry into CervicalCheck, led by Dr Gabriel Scally, has started its work.

More information can be found at www.scallyreview.ie.