The Irish Times

December 14 2002

Problems in assault unit 'could recur'

by Nuala Haughey

The problems identified in the Sexual assault Treatment Unit (SATU) in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin when it was headed by Dr Moira Woods have the potential to recur, a report from the Medical Council has found.

The report is critical of poor management structures within which the unit operated under the charge of Dr Woods, who was last January found guilty by the Medical Council of professional misconduct.

This followed an investigation of allegations from five families, first made some 10 years ago, that they had been falsely accused in the 1980s of child sexual abuse by Dr Woods, then the units director.

The council issued a six-page statement on the Fitness to Practise Committee Inquiry into Dr Woods late yesterday without any prior notice and with a warning that "lessons should be learned from the wide range of governance issues" which appeared not to have been addressed.

SATU was established in January 1985 and operated almost independently of the Rotunda Hospital, the council's statement says. The unit was "subjected to substantial work pressures within a short time, but with very limited resources".

Dr Woods was effectively in sole charge of the unit, with "little evidence of any other medical supervision" and was employed without formal training or experience in the management of paediatric victims of sexual assault, it says.

When children or their parents received inadequate care, as in this case, doctors must take responsibility for not meeting the standards set by their peers, the report says. "However, those who plan, fund or oversee medical services have separate responsibilities to the doctors whom they employ. Medical Council disciplinary proceedings have no authority to investigate management structures in Irish medicines" it adds. "Nonetheless, where management structures appear not to have fully played their part, it is essential that a distinction be drawn between the responsibilities of individual doctors and the responsibilities of the agencies for which they work."

The council said it issued last night's report to ensure that a matter of significant public importance was brought to the attention of the public, the medical profession and those responsible for clinical governance.

"It is clear that many lessons can be learned from the setting up of SATU in relation to the establishment of new clinical services. While doctors have a fundamental role in such services, lessons should be learned from the wide range of governance issues which appears not to have been addressed," it says.

"The problems identified in SATU have the potential to recur. It is the responsibility of all involved in running these services to ensure that these issues are addressed."