Tallaght Hospital - the cover-up:

This is a follow up and continuation of the two Irish Times articles about my healthcare experiences:

30/3/2010: "Chronic pain sufferer unable to get help" and 22/5/2012: "My quality of life has been totally destroyed"

I first attended Tallaght Hospital during 2009 and have been left semi-crippled due to indifference, negligence etc. I've been diagnosed with degenerate spinal disease which caused a fall in Dec 2010 leaving me to need a crutch and leg brace after a 2 week stay in St James's Hospital.

Having failed to get Tallaght Hospital to accept and address my complaints of 2010 & 2012 I've obtained, over a very long period, records, documentation, information etc, usually under Freedom of Information - something Tallaght Hospital's Dr Noel criticised me for - this is the documentary proof for my story.

What I found was a hospital and some staff that had nothing but their own interests at heart, the welfare of me, the patient, was treated with indifference - as was patient confidentiality.

My Rights were violated, falsehoods, misrepresentation etc were indulged in and documentation altered and, or falsified and the law deliberately broken.

In fact the hospital's arrogance and belief of unaccountability was illustrated when their CEO Ms E. Hardiman deliberately broke the law. Having twice written asking for my permission and having twice failed to obtain it, she not only released my medical records [which were falsified] to third parties but also a file of over 200 documents including private correspondence etc.

As Tallaght Hospital refused me a copy of this file I obtained it elsewhere and found it to be incomplete, misleading and contained false documents and attempted to pass the blame for the lack of treatment on to me. A matter I warned the Ombudsman about as she was working from this file - but no interest was taken by Ms O'Reilly.

I had also being given other patient's private information but the hospital and Ms Hardiman and Mr B. Hawkes the Data Protection Commissioner refused to accept my complaints regarding all the illegal releasing of information.

What follows are examples of my experiences, such as, in 2010 I had also complained to the hospital that their file copy of a letter they had sent to my G.P. had been altered significantly to what my G.P. had received. This was completely ignored and such a policy of altering/falsification was to turn up on more than one occasion later on.

The indifference, negligence, false claims etc:

Documentation shows;-

# That immediately after my consultation with Tallaght Hospital's Dr J. Noel on 1/4/10 he made a request that I be booked in for facet joint injections and he confirmed in his letter dated 1/4/10 to my G.P. the programme of treatment ~ injections ASAP depending on when a bed became available followed by back rehab followed by surgery if necessary. Later Dr Noel was to deny this.

# 5 months later in Aug 2010 it was known that I'd not had treatment yet and Dr Noel was going to check this out.

# 14 months later in 2011 it was known that I'd still not had treatment yet, that the bookings had never been made for my treatment and Dr Noel had been too busy to check or follow matters up.

# Now Dr Noel was falsely claiming that he had actually offered me immediate admission, immediate treatment on 1/4/10, that I'd refused his offer.

So, according to their documentation they have two contradictory versions -

The original version: On 1/4/10 I was offered treatment ASAP depending on when a bed became available, a request for bookings to be made for my treatment was sent to radiology but the booking was never made. Dr Noel was aware of this for, at least, over 9 months but was too busy to do anything.

The later version: On 1/4/10 I was offered immediate admission, immediate treatment and refused, a request for bookings to be made for my treatment was sent to radiology, the booking was made for 13/7/10 but I failed to turn up. To support this new false version medical records were falsified and Tallaght Hospital 'discovered', in 2011, a 2010 letter to my G.P. [which my G.P. never received and no one had ever seen] from Dr Noel contradicting his original letter dated the day of the consultation. Ms O'Reilly refused to contact my G.P. who would confirm she had never received this letter and that it contradicted the letter she had received.

# This indifference, delay etc was part of my 2012 complaint that the Ombudsman had said she was investigating. However in 2013 she closed the file on my complaints falsely claiming that I'd withdrawn my complaints as I did not wish her to continue her investigations.

Tallaght Hospital criminal offences etc, Mr B. Hawkes and Ms E. O'Reilly aid the cover up etc:

Ms E. Hardiman Tallaght Hospital's CEO twice requested my permission to release my personal information and file to third parties and twice I did not give my permission, stating that I wanted my complaints of 2010 & 2012 addressed first. During July 2012 Ms Hardiman deliberately broke the law and went ahead and made the release.

The hospital refused me a copy of said file but having obtained a copy elsewhere I discovered it was incomplete, misleading and contained a number of false documents including falsified medical records. When I discovered that this was the file the Ombudsman was using I warned her but she took no interest.

It's clear why Tallaght Hospital did not want me to see this file, for example, they had replaced Dr Noel's 2011 confirmation that they had not made the requested bookings for my treatment with an 2012 internal hospital report saying they had made the bookings for 13/7/10 but I had failed to attend - no mention was made that they were now contradicting Dr Noel's statement that no bookings had been made. Ms O'Reilly accepted this false report without question.

Ms O'Reilly the Ombudsman - this formed part of my 2012 complaint. However in 2013 she closed the file on my complaints falsely claiming that I'd withdrawn my complaints as I did not wish her to continue her investigations - my challenge was ignored. Given the strength of my documentary evidence this was the only way Ms O'Reilly could clear Tallaght Hospital/Dr Noel - especially since they had contradictory versions of events, therefore whichever version Ms O'Reilly chose would prove my complaints and that was her dilemma.

All Ms O'Reilly has to do is produce the documentation showing me withdrawing my complaints to prove I'm lying when I say her claim that I withdrew my complaints is false - she cannot. Since Ms O'Reilly indulges in falsehoods it's obvious that she will find no wrong in others doing the same.

Mr B. Hawkes the Data Protection Commissioner refused on 10/12/12 to accept my complaints saying there had been no breach of the data protection acts. This despite the fact that the HSE and Tallaght Hospital had already made formal admissions to Mr Hawkes that they had committed breaches of the data protection acts. I had opened my complaint to Mr Hawkes that my personal information had been released to other parties without my permission. Mr Hawkes deliberately violated EU law.

I challenged his refusal on 11/12/12 pointing out to Mr B. Hawkes -

# Tallaght Hospital had twice requested my permission to release my personal information/file to third parties and twice I did not give permission. However they still released said information, thereby deliberately breaking the law - meaning the Data Protection Commissioner would have to prosecute

# Twice Tallaght Hospital refused to accept my complaint regarding this breach of confidentiality and this included the hospital's Data Protection Officer.

# When said 'file' was released to me it included personal information of other patients.

# Previously records had been released to me leaving other patients information readable.

And I requested that he put my challenge on my complaint file and confirm that he had done so. He declined to so confirm.

Given the deliberate nature of Tallaght Hospital's actions, their admittance and the contents of documentation, Mr Hawkes would be obliged to prosecute criminal sanctions - the only way around this was for him to illegally refuse my complaint.  

Overall I've been given details regarding 19 other patients. This ranged from just their name up to their addresses, treatment type etc. One even related to a complaint of breach of privacy and confidentiality.

The phone call of 9/4/10 and the 'witness' who was not there:

On 1/4/10 at Tallaght Hospital I'd been left forgotten for hours after my appointed time by Dr Noel. As I was in extreme pain it was agreed with Dr Noel that I would phone his contact on Ormsby Ward when I'd enough mobility to get out again.

On 9/4/10 @ 9:45am I made the planned phone call and spoke to the ward clerk who took my details as she could not find Ms Irene Fortune the orthopaedic secretary, but would get her to phone me back on Monday - All that is clear in my complaints and to any one listening to the tape I had made of the call - but no one ever returned my call and I never received treatment.

Tallaght Hospital and Dr J. Noel claim that I never made this call and produced a statement in 2011, not from the ward clerk but from Ms Fortune certifying she had never spoken to me. The denial that I'd made the call on 9/4/10 was just part of the attempt to pass the blame on to me for the lack of treatment.

On 4/4/13 the Ombudsman informed me that Tallaght Hospital had said that Ms Fortune was actually off sick on 9/4/10 the day I phoned Ormsby Ward. The problem with this was that Tallaght Hospital's Dr Noel had already used the statement from Ms Fortune in 2011 and the statement made absolutely no mention of her been off sick at any time. Ms O'Reilly accepted, without question, the denial that I'd not made the call. So the 'evidence' supporting the denial that I did not make my call on 9/4/10 was from a staff member who was not actually there.

I highlighted the fact that while there was a misleading statement from a staff member who I never claimed to have spoken to, there was no statement from the ward clerk who I said I spoke to. And that Tallaght Hospital had refused to investigate my complaints of 2010 & 2012 - Of course listening to my tape of the call in conjunction with staff and shift records would be enough to confirm my claim, including that the ward clerk had made a record of the call. Ms O'Reilly ruled that I'd failed to prove I'd made the call.

In July 2103 Ms O'Reilly stated that following the consultation on 1/4/10 I was to phone the hospital when I had decided on treatment and that I said I had phoned to arrange a consultation. As that was completely incorrect I wrote to correcting her by quoting my complaint. She responded insisting that I was wrong - thereby rewriting my complaint. Ms O'Reilly's 'version' does not fit with the fact that Dr Noel had made bookings for my treatment at the consultation of 1/4/10.

However, once I'd forcibly spelt matters out Ms O'Reilly closed the file on my complaints in June 2013 claiming that I'd withdrawn my complaints, that I did not wish her to continue with her investigations - that was a complete falsehood. In fact I was pressing for a full and open investigation only days before and of note is that Ms O'Reilly's false claim came quite soon after she let slip that her investigations had established matters regarding Ms Fortune being off sick the day I made my call.

The Medical Council:

Having made my initial complaint in March 2011 it was dismissed 6 months later - however there are numerous matters of great public interest.

# In his defence Dr Noel claimed to the Medical Council that his letter to my G.P. confirmed that on 1/4/10 he had offered me immediate admission/treatment and I refused.

I proved that he was being untruthful by lodging his letter dated 1/4/10 in which he said "I offered to try and get him in as soon as possible for facet joint injections if we can get him a bed". This not only confirmed my claims but was in line with his earlier claims that he requested bookings be made for my treatment.

Not only did the Medical Council accept Dr Noel's proven false version without question, their minutes prove that they falsified my complaint to fit in with Dr Noel's new version. They said that I agreed with Dr Noel that his letter confirmed I refused immediate treatment. This meant that I was contradicting myself and my evidence, so my complaint had to fail.

The falsification circumvented Dr Noel having to explain his contradiction and other matters related to it. Dr Noel's letter of 1/4/10 confirming treatment ASAP depending on a bed was the only letter seen by the Medical Council and the only one received by my G.P.

Ms Caroline Spillane the Councils CEO was fully aware of the falsification but exhibited absolutely no interest and in fact the Councils president Prof. Kieran C. Murphy had already written to me expressing his satisfaction with the handling of my original complaint.

During 2012 I made three Freedom of Information requests [March, April, July] to the Medical Council including to produce the evidence/proof of what they claimed by altering my complaint - they declined and all these are in the hands of Ms O'Reilly as Information Commissioner but I'm still waiting.

# Showing absolutely no interest in my tape, the Council accepted Dr Noel's claim that I'd not made my phone call on 9/4/10. The evidential matters are as set out above and yet again a major question relates to Ms Fortunes 'evidence', especially as it's now proven she was not even in work.

# On 31/5/11 Dr Noel informed the Council that I'd not had the treatment required as the bookings he had requested on 1/4/10 had not been made. He stated he had been too busy to check or follow matters up. The Council accepted this as fit and proper behaviour.

# Dr Noel lodged what he claimed was a transcript, made on 19/5/10, of the medical records [clinical note] for 1/4/10. Not only are the records falsified but this document was never released under any of my Freedom of Information requests. Dr Noel's records of 1/4/10 contradicted his letter of 1/4/10.

# While my complaints against Dr Noel were being 'investigated' by the Medical Council they felt that it was quite fit and proper for Dr Noel to expect me to attend, at a time and place that suited him, for a consultation against my wishes, despite my crippled state and his conduct.

A disturbing fact is that the Medical Council is fully funded by the medical profession.

The falsification of medical records:

What was offered on 1/4/10 by Dr Noel to me?

Version 1 the original and true version = Treatment ASAP depending on when a bed becomes available. Programme of treatment - facet joint injections ASAP, followed by back rehab, followed by surgery if necessary. Dr Noel's letter of 1/4/10 to my G.P. was written immediately after the consultation confirms this.

Hospital records show Dr Noel immediately made a request on 1/4/10 that I be booked in for treatment and later records show that Dr Noel discovered that the requested bookings were never made and that he showed absolutely no interest in rectification.

Version 2 = Immediate admission and treatment which I refused and Dr Noel claimed this was what was confirmed in his letter to my G.P. This version surfaced on 31/5/11, over a year after the consultation and no such letter as claimed by Dr Noel existed at this time, no one had even seen any such letter, but Ms O'Reilly ruled against the evidence that such a letter did exist at that time. 

While the medical records are claimed to have been written by Dr Noel at the same time as version 1 they contradict it and support version 2.

Version 1 puts the onus on Dr Noel and Tallaght Hospital. Version 2 places the blame for the lack of treatment on to me.

The Minister for Health removes patient protection ~ falsification now ministerial and government policy:

I made my formal complaint regarding the Medical Council's altering/falsification to Dr J. Reilly the Minister for Health on 5th March 2013. On 26th July 2013 he responded indicating that the Medical Council had acted within the law and he found their conduct completely acceptable, despite me providing him with the documentary proof of the Medical Council's internal minutes.

The falsification by the Council was that they said I agreed with Dr Noel's version, when in fact I proved by documentation his version was false. Their falsification made sure my complaint had to fail.

It's extremely significant that rather than insist that the Medical Council rectify and carry out their duties lawfully, the minister approved of their unlawful conduct and that when I requested he put my objection on file he completely ignored me.

It's now policy that the Medical Council can alter/falsify a complaint and in such a manner that the complaint fitted in with what the doctor wanted and therefore had to fail.

At present the only explanation for Dr Reilly's unlawful conduct is the fact that the Medical Council is fully funded by the medical profession and he is a doctor.

Politics, politicians and regulatory bodies:

Despite the seriousness of matters both Catherine Byrne [Fine Gael] and Joan Collins [People Before Profits] ignored my requests for help when I approached them on more than one occasion - showing that protecting the 'establishment' is more important to them than their constituents.

The actions of the regulatory bodies etc I approached showed that they acted in an opposite manner to their remit, which is to protect the patient/members of the public. For example, the Ombudsman falsely claiming I'd withdrawn my complaints, Data Protection Commissioner refusing to accept a validated complaint, Medical Council falsifying my complaint etc and one is obliged to ask - how many times have they done this and how many times more?

Patient's Rights and accountability is a farce, there's none unless the patient has the resources to enforce them and as shown without said resources the patient cannot rely on the regulatory bodies etc.

In fact there's so little accountability that none of these people/bodies has even had to explain their conduct, contradictions, falsifications etc.

Factually patients in Ireland have been divested of their Rights and if you think it could not happen to you - think again, who is there to protect you, whom would you complain too?

William M. Trent.                    williammtrent@yahoo.ie