The people of the south-east, who mounted a high-profile campaign for radiotherapy services in their region, were yesterday feeling let down by the Government's decision not to provide them with radiotherapy in their own area for several years at least.
Ms Jane Bailey, of the South East Cancer Foundation, said it appeared patients from the region would continue to have surgery and chemotherapy for their cancer at Waterford Regional Hospital and then have to travel to Cork or Dublin for radiotherapy, although the experts who complied the report on the future of radiotherapy services said all three modalities of treatment should be on one site to provide patients with best outcomes.
Ms Bailey accused the Government of breaking election promises and in its programme for Government in which it indicated that people in all parts of the country would be provided with "reasonable access" to cancer services. Spending five hours travelling to and from treatment could hardly be described as "reasonable access", Ms Bailey said.
She also questioned the findings of research commissioned for the report. It found patients rated close geographical access to a treatment centre just 13th out of 15 priorities when they needed treatment. Access to the highest level of care was the most important factor for them. Ms Bailey said this was surprising given that patients in the south-east were opting for a mastectomy rather than travelling to Dublin for treatment for breast cancer.
The South Eastern Health Board said it was very disappointed. It has called a special meeting for next Friday to discuss the report.
The Irish Cancer Society acknowledged the concerns of local interest groups but said it believed "these local considerations are not in the best interests of patients nationally".
The chairman of the society's medical committee, Dr John Kennedy, said that while ideally services should be delivered as close to the patient's home as feasible, the overriding priority must be to provide the safest and most effective treatment.