The [euro]500,000 CAT scan unit without a radiologist.

Byline: Pat Flynn

ENNIS General Hospital has closed its CAT scan department because it does not have a full-time radiologist to read X-rays.

The news comes just three months after a CAT scanner was bought for e500,000.

Temporary and locum radiologists had operated the scanner since July.

But management has decided to close the department - which cost e500,000 to build - amid fears that the hospital could be embroiled in a fresh misdiagnosis scandal.

In April, a Health Information Quality Authority inquiry into the deaths of Ann Moriarty, 53, and 26-year-old Edel Kelly found that their breast cancer diagnoses had been missed at the hospital.

CAT scanners take detailed Xrays of the body, can read brain injuries and are able to detect cancer and heart disease.

Interviews for a full-time radiologist will not be held until next month so it is expected that the unit will be closed for some weeks.

In the meantime, patients at Ennis General are being sent on an 80km round-trip to Limerick for scans.

Last night, the HSE said in a statement: 'The suspension of the Ennis service was done in the best interests of patient safety, and will only last until suitable replacements are available.

'Lessons learned in the past are that you do not engage in diagnostics of this nature without the required clinical skills being available.'