Fine Gael Health Spokesman, Dr James Reilly has called for the relevant board members of Tallaght Hospital to appear before an Oireachtas Committee to explain how GP referral letters were left unopened for years.
Dr O’Reilly said the practice is “inexplicable and shameful” and described it as “an inhuman betrayal of the patients who these letters represented and conveys utter disdain for their care.”
He said: “Tallaght is disturbing symptom of a health service where dysfunction is the order of the day”.
He also called on the Minister for Health Mary Harney “to live up to her responsibilities and account for this shameful affair.”
Sinn Féin spokesman on Health Caoimhghín Ó’Caoláin said it is “astounding” that an estimated 30,000 GP referral letters were left unopened or did not reach the consultants for whom they were intended at Tallaght.
Mr Ó’Caoláin “It is even more serious than the 58,000 unread x-rays. It is a fundamental breakdown in our health services and a major threat to the health and safety of patients when communications between general practitioners and consultants are virtually non-existent.”
And he called for the recall of Ms Harney from New Zealand to address the crisis.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South West Charlie O’Connor called on the chairman of the board of Tallaght Hospital to resign.
He said: “There are clear governance failures in the management of the hospital, the patients who have been affected have been failed by the hospital.”
“The chairman of the board should explain publicly why warnings were ignored and then resign his position,” he added.
Labour’s Dominic Hannigan said while the circumstances surrounding the problems at Tallaght Hospital are of “major concer” he said better use of computer resources need to be looked at.
He asked: “Why in this day and age is it necessary for a GP to write a letter to a consultant, print it out, stick it in an envelope and send it through the snail mail system?”
“I wonder how many hours are spent in doctors’ offices and in hospitals processing these pieces of paper, when staff really have better things to be doing,” he added.