Cancer society welcomes HSE announcement

Reaction:The Irish Cancer Society has welcomed the announcement by the HSE that 20 hospitals around the country will continue to provide breast cancer services, but has called for clarification on the development of the service.

Concerns have also been raised at the loss of all breast cancer services at Mullingar regional hospital.

The HSE announced last night that, in the next few weeks, breast care services at Mullingar hospital would be transferred to the Mater in Dublin.

A spokeswoman for the Irish Cancer Society said it welcomed the announcement that weekly multidisciplinary team meetings, at which individual cases will be discussed, would take place in all 20 hospitals. It also welcomed clarification that some of the regional hospitals would be grouped and networked to one of the eight hospitals designated as centres of excellence.

The society said it looked forward to the forthcoming publication of the Health Information and Quality Authority review, which would examine whether the hospitals can meet the criteria outlined in the National Quality Assurance Standards for Symptomatic Breast Disease Services, published in May 2007.

The standards include staffing level requirements and state that each hospital must care for at least 150 newly-diagnosed patients a year.

The society called for a definite timeframe on the plan to move all breast cancer services to centres of excellence and asked what would happen to women and staff at the 12 other hospitals.

Labour TD Willie Penrose said there had been no complaints about breast cancer services at Mullingar and the women who have been attending there under consultant Peter Magill regard it as a first class service.

He said the hospital served a substantial catchment area and treated 630 women last year. "What arrangements are being put in place to help patients . . . to travel long distances to Dublin for treatment," he asked.

He said there were serious questions about the financing and resourcing of the promised centres of excellence.

"It is not acceptable to close reliable local facilities without a clear efficient and assessable alternative first being made available."

Fine Gael Senator for Longford Westmeath Nicky McFadden called on the HSE to immediately specify what criteria it used to decide which services to close, given that over 600 women used the breast cancer services in Mullingar last year. "The HSE must outline where these women will go and what alternative arrangements are being put in place now that breast cancer services have been withdrawn," he said.

He said there were concerns that Dublin hospitals were already operating near full capacity and would be unable to accommodate extra patients.