merrion street

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has announced the establishment of an ex-gratia scheme for women affected by the non-disclosure of the Cervical Check audit. Minister Harris secured Government approval to proceed with the scheme, which will be open to all women, or their next of kin, in the 221 cohort identified from the retrospective clinical audit as having discordance in their smear test result and where this finding was not disclosed in an appropriate or timely fashion. The audit was retrospective and conducted by CervicalCheck. The Government also approved the appointment of an Independent Assessment Panel, comprising a retired High Court Judge (who will act as Chair), an independent clinician and a person of good standing.  The Chair of the Independent Assessment Panel, previously announced, is Mr. Justice Aindrias Ó'Caoimh. The amount is to be determined by the Independent Assessment Panel, taking into account both the fact of, and impact of, the non-disclosure.  

The Scheme is designed to provide an alternative, non-adversarial and person-centred option for women affected by the CervicalCheck non-disclosure issue. It is anticipated that the Scheme will be up and running in the coming weeks.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

In December 2018, the Government agreed to the establishment of an ex-gratia scheme ' to ensure that the 221 women affected can have the impact of non-disclosure addressed without recourse to court, through the establishment of a non-statutory scheme to provide ex-gratia payments'