Bottrill to face 'valiant' women

By FRANCESCA MOLD and FIONA BARBER

Former Gisborne pathologist Dr Michael Bottrill will front up to eight "courageous" women who want to hear how their cervical slides could have been misread.

In a move that stunned those at the Gisborne ministerial inquiry into cervical screening yesterday, Dr Bottrill's lawyer, Christopher Hodson, QC, said his client had decided to make a brief statement before the inquiry tomorrow.

Dr Bottrill has always refused to give media interviews or make statements.

"But over the past two days, we have heard from these eight courageous women," said Mr Hodson.

"Dr Bottrill is aware of their briefs of evidence, the discussion of the emotional impact and their comments that they want to hear from him."

Dr Bottrill's appearance is on the condition that he is not cross-examined until he gives more detailed evidence in July.

Mr Hodson's announcement was greeted with cheers from women and their supporters in the public gallery. It is the first time they will hear what Dr Bottrill has to say about the health scare that has rocked their lives.

Meanwhile, the hearing heard that there was concern up to 11 years ago about Dr Bottrill's performance.

Counsel for the Ministry of Health and Health Funding Authority, Kim Murray, said witnesses would give evidence about a complaint from a Gisborne GP in May 1989 that he had never received an abnormal smear test result from Dr Bottrill's lab.

This opinion was checked at the time with other doctors in the area but they did not appear to share the GP's concern.

Mr Murray also foreshadowed evidence from a former Midland Regional Health Authority chief executive, Chris Mules, about a letter sent to Dr Bottrill in 1994 after a pathology scare at Good Health Wanganui, asking him about his quality assurance programmes.

In response, Dr Bottrill said he had applied for registration with Telarc, an accreditation agency, and went to an overseas conference every year.

Mr Murray said Dr Bottrill's letter concluded: "There is little likelihood of a major misdiagnosis occurring of the Good Health Wanganui type."

This letter caused concern at Midland Health, but no complaints from local doctors, patients or from the cervical screening management had been received.

Midland Health did begin developing standards for laboratories that became part of laboratory contracts in 1997, a year after Dr Bottrill retired.

The ministry's chief medical adviser (safety and regulatory), Dr Bob Boyd, gave evidence about cervical screening at yesterday's hearing. He said systems were in place and "moving forward," but he did not believe patients' rights were fully protected in all healthcare services.

"I don't believe there is informed consent or that people know enough to become clients and partners in their healthcare yet."

Dr Boyd told the hearing he found the stories of the eight women who had given evidence harrowing.

In each case, someone had let the client down, he said.

"It was not just the cervical screening programme and not only the pathologist. There were examples of failure to communicate, to provide support when support looked like it was really needed.

"There are salutary lessons for the whole health service in hearing these histories."