Mallow CT scanner to be 'operational later this month'

THE HSE has confirmed that it expects that a €1.5 million CT scanner, which has lain idle in Mallow General Hospital for over a year, will become operational later this month with the appointment of a new specialist consultant radiographer trained to use the machine.

Mallow hospital manager, Tony Gosnell has confirmed to Labour TD SeáSherlock that he expects the CT to become operational later this month following the successful recruitment of a clinical specialist radiographer.

Mr Sherlock gave a qualified welcome to the HSE statement and said while it was good news for the people of Mallow, they had suffered disappointment in the past regarding the CT scanner, and he would wait until the consultant takes up the post before commenting further.

Last April, the lack of a specialist consultant radiographer and the resultant lying idle of the new CT scanner provoked considerable controversy with some 130 GPs in north Cork expressing concern at the impact it was having on patient care.

Mallow GP Dr Harry Casey said some 654 patients were referred from Mallow hospital to Cork University Hospital (CUH)in 2007 for scans because there was no one trained to operate the new CT scanner, and on average five patients a day were being sent from Mallow to Cork for CT scans.

He pointed out that CUH radiography service manager, Angela McGovern, had written to management at Mallow hospital in February to say that the radiography department at CUH would no longer be able to accept referrals for CT examinations for outpatients from Mallow.

Mr Sherlock recently attempted to establish the cost of transferring patients from Mallow to Cork for CT scans, but the HSE said that no figures were available. The HSE did confirm last April that the new service would eliminate the need for patients to go to Cork.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times