Some patients received incorrect text messages about their Covid-19 tests last week due to an IT error, it has emerged.
The HSE has said there was a short-term issue with the automated texting of negative results for two days last week.
One woman received a text on Saturday to say that the result of her test, taken on Friday, was negative.
However, the woman’s test had actually taken place on Thursday.
She contacted the HSE and was told to continue to self-isolate until the mistake was cleared up, meaning that she was unable to return to work for a further period of time.
The HSE themselves should have sufficient systems in place in order to be able to pick up glitches like this.
Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly of the Dáil's coronavirus committee says the sending of inaccurate results is concerning and has called for the HSE to put systems in place to avoid a recurrence.
“What I’d be calling on the HSE to do is to fully review how it happened, to put a system in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, and also an early warning system because indications are that this came to the HSE’s attention when people were given incorrect dates,” she said.
“The HSE themselves should have sufficient systems in place in order to be able to pick up glitches like this.”
