Breast cancer charities have criticised the Health Service Executive (HSE) for failing to protect women against poor standards of care in private treatment facilities.
The Irish Cancer Society (ICS)said that private facilities which did not meet the quality standard required of public hospitals should be shut down. Cancer campaign group Europa Donna Ireland said the revelations about cancer care at Barringtons' Hospital in Limerick were a "fiasco" for women worried about cancer.
Calls to the ICS helpline quadrupled yesterday, and were mainly from women who had attended Barringtons' for a mammogram examination and had received the "all clear", a spokeswoman said.
The ICS yesterday welcomed the decision by the Department of Health and Children to suspend breast cancer services at Barringtons', however it said the HSE must implement recently published quality assurance standards for breast disease service without delay.
"Breast disease is being treated in many places where there is no system of care and this is entirely unacceptable," said ICS chief executive John McCormack.
The HSE had failed to properly implement guidelines published in 2000 and could not afford to repeat this mistake, he said.
"We need to do everything we can to ensure these new standards will not meet the same fate and that we give women with symptomatic breast disease and breast cancer access to speedy, effective and efficient care."
Women were losing confidence in the testing system, said Europa Donna chairwoman Christine Murphy-Whyte.
"The constant drip, drip of information about breast cancer misdiagnosis and treatment is further eroding confidence in the health service's ability to treat the disease effectively."
She called on the Department of Health and the HSE to designate specialist breast centres.