Playing volleyball with life

There was some interesting conversation on the Marian Finucane Show last Sunday about the latest shocking scandal concerning the gross incompetence in the treatment of breast cancer.

The panel consisted of Justine McCarthy (journalist), Liam Griffin, Joe Higgins (politician), John Crown (consultant) and Michael Colgan. At times it is difficult to identify who is speaking but here are some quotes to send a chill up the spine.

John Colgan:

“It’s interesting to listen to John Crown saying that it’s easy to make mistakes, and they’ll get suspended and they’ll get sacked and they’ll get changed. Yet, when Dr. Gupta wrote to the HSE, he was told, ‘go to the Dept. of Health’ and they sent him to the Medical Council, he was given the run around.

I come back to what Justine (McCarthy) said, 650 people are dying, 15% more than the EU average. People playing volleyball with this, not taking the blame, going home, saying they did nothing and actually killing people.”

John Crown: (I think)

“There are five or six really big places… that really try to do this right (for cancer patients).
But until O’Higgins identified all of this there were lots of little public hospitals where ego driven, cult personality run individual doctors were allowing breast cancer care to be done, I believe, inappropriately, incorrectly and to a lower than acceptable standard.”

Panel member: “How does that sound to somebody out there with breast cancer?”

Marian Finucane: Terrifying, I would have thought.

Panel member: “I’ll tell you something Marian, if anything goes wrong with me in this country, I’m glad I can afford it, I’m getting a second opinion and now when I read all of this, a third.”