A leading cancer specialist has refused to withdraw his warning that up to 1,000 Irish cancer patients a year are dying because of inadequate treatment facilities, despite an assertion by the chairman of the National Cancer Forum that this claim is incorrect.
A consultant radiotherapist at Cork University Hospital, Mr Seamus O Cathail, said his comments were based on statistics, which showed that in Europe an average of 66 per cent of cancer patients received radiotherapy treatment, compared to just 16 per cent in Ireland.
The difference was due to inadequate radiotherapy facilities here, and was resulting in the needless deaths of 1,000 people annually in Ireland. Mr O Cathail said he came under pressure not to repeat his warning after he went public about the issue several weeks ago.
But he said he was simply stating facts, based on easily verifiable statistics.
"No matter what spin you put on these figures, or how many levels of bureaucracy you create, you just cannot veneer over the problem after a while," Mr O Cathail said. "These are issues of the gravest importance for the health of the community we are all supposed to be serving."
But the chairman of the National Cancer Forum, Prof James Fennelly, said reports that suggested that resources, facilities and staffing were inadequate and that there was no real sign of improvement were not correct.
"The claims, by a very small minority of Irish cancer specialists, are both surprising and disappointing, because they seem to ignore almost entirely the substantial progress made since the launch of the National Cancer Strategy in 1996," he said.
An extra £26 million had been invested in cancer services since 1997 and more funding would be available in the years ahead. "No one is suggesting that the service is ideal, but there now exists real evidence of steady improvement, in a way that is organised to meet the needs of patients in the best possible way," according to Prof Fennelly, who is special adviser on cancer services to the Department of Health and Children.
"The real issue for the future is how best to continue developing our cancer services - let us stop the sensationalist claims and build a solid service that compares to the best in the world," he said.
While the National Cancer Strategy had provided funding for surgery, screening and chemotherapy, it would not benefit radiotherapy, Mr O Cathail noted. "The necessary facilities are just not there under the current strategy," he said.
A Cork South Central TD, Mr Batt O'Keeffe, said he had been informed by the Southern Health Board's director of public health, Dr Liz Nolan, that cancer patients in the board's catchment area did not normally have to wait for more than four to six weeks for treatment.
Mr O Cathail's comments had caused consternation and great anxiety, he said, and the consultant should now respond in the light of data provided by Dr Nolan.
Mr O Cathail said his comments were based on national data and referred to a national problem in cancer treatment services.