The Minister for Health has said he expects that 2,500 new cancer patients in the west and south will be treated in their regions each year following his approval of €15 million in annual funding for radiation oncology in Galway and Cork.
Some 130 additional staff have been sanctioned for University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG) and Cork University Hospital, along with an additional five linear accelerators to provide radiation treatment and five consultant radiation oncologists to run them.
The announcement by Mr Martin represents the second phase in the National Radiation Oncology Group's establishment of supra-regional cancer services. The group, which is implementing the Hollywood report on cancer services, is committed to four radiotherapy locations - two in Dublin and one each in Galway and Cork.
The development also follows the Minister's decision to earmark €20 million for expanding the BreastCheck service to Galway and Cork.
The 130 additional staff approved for radiation treatment in Cork and Galway range across the disciplines of radiation oncology, radiation therapy, nursing, physics, dosimetry, engineering, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
The Minister reiterated the Government's commitment to providing "high quality multi-disciplinary oncology services", and said the centres would "collectively have the staff and treatment infrastructure to permit a rapid increase in patient access to appropriate radiation therapy and will form the 'backbone' of the future service expansion".
The unit in UCHG will treat 2,000 new cancer patients each year and cater for more than 20,000 daily treatment visits annually when it opens in early 2005, according to the Minister.
The Cork University Hospital expansion will allow for an additional 500 new cancer patients each year and approximately 5,000 daily treatment visits. This represents an increase of 25 per cent on the current activity in the unit.
However, the Progressive Democrats TD for Galway West, Mr Noel Grealish, has criticised the Western Health Board (WHB) for failing to make use of new radiotherapy facilities at the private Galway Clinic until such time as the public unit at UCHG is opened next year.
Mr Grealish, who is chairman of the PD parliamentary party, pointed out that radiotherapy services had begun this month at the new private clinic at Doughiska, Galway, and the hospital's senior management had offered to accommodate public patients waiting for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health said yesterday that it is to bring in a panel of international experts to advise on the location of new radiotherapy facilities in Dublin.
The provision of new radiotherapy services for public patients in the capital will be one of the most expensive and prestigious healthcare developments over the next few years.
A number of the main hospitals are making plans to compete for the contracts. Hospitals interested in seeking the contract have been given until early next month to make submissions and costings.
Under the Government's radiotherapy strategy two centres are to be established for cancer patients requiring radiation oncology in Dublin, one on the northside and one on the southside.
The current national radiotherapy centre, St Luke's Hospital in Dublin, is considered to be out of the running because a report from an expert group last year recommended that all forms of cancer treatment - radiation, chemotherapy and surgery - should be provided on the same site.
A number of hospitals have commissioned consultancy firms to advise them on their submissions for the radiotherapy service over recent months.
Ms Laura Magahy who oversaw the redevelopment of Temple Bar and who also worked on the Campus Stadium Ireland project, is advising the Mater Hospital. Prospectus, the consultancy group which advised the Department of Health on the reforms of the health boards, is working with Beaumont Hospital.
On the southside, it is expected that virtually all the main general hospitals will make submissions.