A Health Service Executive recall of 615 patients who attended Wexford General Hospital has identified 13 "possible missed cancers".

The cases relate to the care provided by one consultant, between March 2013 and November 2014, in relation to colonoscopies, which are bowel checks.

Of the 13 cancers detected on recall, one case involved a man who died before the review.

The details are contained in a HSE report given to families.

The HSE has said that it is commissioning an external expert to review the management of the incident and related issues.

Concerns were first raised in October 2014, when Wexford identified two cancer cases in patients who had recently had a colonoscopy, but were not diagnosed at the time.

The report says the two cases of cancer came to attention in October 2014.

Some key details of the controversy were first revealed by RTÉ News in February 2016 but coverage was limited for legal reasons.

It has taken until now for the full review report to be published.

The consultant concerned has been on leave since 2015.

The HSE has contacted all of the families affected and provided them with the review report.

When the problem was identified, the hospital says it began an immediate process of open disclosure, notified the patients and families and apologised.

A total of 615 patients were recalled, of whom 401 after review had a repeat colonoscopy.

The colonoscopy service at Wexford was run under contract to BowelScreen, the national bowel screening service.

The recheck tests were done at St Vincent's University Hospital and the Mater in Dublin and Wexford Hospital.

Open disclosure was made in February 2015. The Medical Council was notified in April 2015.

Most of the recall was done by July 2015 and the full recall was completed by March 2016.