Six women awaiting results of final tests to determine if they were given a correct or incorrect breast cancer diagnosis at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise are expected to get those results later this week.
Their mammograms were among more than 3,000 sent for external examination by the Health Service Executive after concerns were raised about the reading of breast cancer scans at the hospital.
The review extends back to scans reported on by a number of consultant radiologists at the hospital since November 2003.
To date the review has found that seven women were wrongly given the all clear. The HSE has apologised to them for their delayed diagnosis.
Minister for Health Mary Harney stressed yesterday it had yet to be determined what the final number of misdiagnosed cases would be.
"We don't have information yet. I understand later this week when the remaining women have been screened and those screenings have been assessed then obviously we'll be in a position to assess the number," she said.
"We know already that there were seven misdiagnoses at Portlaoise hospital, that when the same mammograms were read by different consultants in Dublin with no additional screening, that they diagnosed cancer," she added.
Meanwhile, the HSE has stressed that while no new breast cancer patients will be seen at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar, following its decision on Friday to close breast cancer services there, patients who were already attending or due to attend the hospital will continue to be seen for the moment.
"Appointments for mammograms already arranged for Mullingar hospital will be honoured," it said.
"Returning patients to Mr Magill, consultant surgeon at the hospital, will continue to be seen until their treatment is completed," it added.
New patients seeking assessment will be referred to Dublin's Mater Hospital. About 600 patients a year will have to be referred onwards to the Mater for assessment and this is likely to result in about 26 new breast cancer cases being diagnosed.
A spokesman for the Mater said discussions would take place between the hospital and the HSE later this week on the resource implications of seeing and treating these extra patients.
"The Mater will provide the service but are not in a position to start straight away. There are discussions being had this week in relation to resourcing and logistics," he said.
Asked yesterday if these discussions should have been finalised before a decision was made to transfer the service from Mullingar to the Mater, Ms Harney said: "I'm very optimistic that the Mater Hospital . . . will be able to deal with the women that come from the midlands area."
Meanwhile, it has emerged that waiting times for routine mammograms in areas not covered by the BreastCheck screening programme can be up to a year in some cases.
The HSE has confirmed that in the midwest the waiting time for a mammogram or breast scan for a woman with no symptoms who is referred by a GP to Limerick Regional Hospital can be nine to 12 months.
The waiting time in the west at Mayo General Hospital can be up to nine months.
BreastCheck, which offers breast cancer screening to women in the 50 to 64 years age group, is due to be rolled out to the midwest and west over the next two years.
The HSE stressed that patients with symptoms of breast cancer would be seen much more rapidly for breast scans.