A radiologist reviewed scans for HSE patients through a company, despite having his licence revoked in two countries after he was found to have misread imaging.
The Irish Times reports that Dr Sattar Kadhem had his medical licence revoked by the Swedish medical regulator in June 2023, followed by the Norwegian regulator soon afterwards.
Dr Kadhem is registered with the UK’s General Medical Council and continued to read scans through a company called Hexamark in the UK until late last year.
He provided radiology reports for Irish patients through Hexamark for diagnostic imaging company Affidea Ireland until September 2024.
Affidea says it uses third-party teleradiology providers located outside of the State during times of high demand or reduced consultant availability. As of now, it remains unclear whether or not the Letterkenny branch was among those scans under Dr Kadhem’s care.
A report from the London-based Times says Dr Kadhem was found by the Swedish regulator to have made mistakes when reviewing patient scans, including missing a large blood clot, air trapped in a patient’s lungs, bone abnormalities, a spine fracture and misdiagnosing a bowel obstruction.
Following the report, he was fired from his job at Hexamark and referred to the General Medical Council.
A spokeswoman for Affidea Ireland says he provided “periodic reporting services” for the company.
The company commissioned an independent review of his work as a precautionary measure, but the review found that all reports were to a satisfactory standard with no patient safety concerns identified.
