Would the Minister accept that what we are talking about here is an extremely serious matter? The issue relates to what can only be described as systematic unnecessary mutilation of women of child-bearing age. There may be as many as 90 women who had this experience and certainly the practice went back at least 21 years. Would the Minister accept that while we all understand that the health board acted swiftly once it was notified, the reality is that this practice was continuing, in effect, practically on a daily basis and yet nobody blew the whistle until two young nurses could take it no longer? As the Minister responsible for the management and care of patients, surely his duty must be to ensure, first, that it will not happen again to any patient but, second, that the truth be told.
Would he accept that it is not solely the responsibility of the Medical Council? The Medical Council has statutory responsibility in terms of professional practice and it is proceeding on that basis relating to one professional, but we are talking about a hospital which failed its patients and about a system which destroyed the possibility for many women to bear more children.
It is an extremely serious situation. Surely the Minister would recognise that he must make a commitment now that the truth will be told, that there will be a tribunal of inquiry and that there will be an assessment carried out of the history of these women. As Minister for Health and Children, he also has a duty to set in place systems throughout the country to monitor and assess what consultants are doing. We can no longer accept that somehow a consultant cannot make a mistake, cannot become mentally ill, and cannot do things which are unacceptable and which are a danger to his patient in all cases. This has implications for the entire hospital system.