asked the Minister for Health when the radioactive cobalt unit for the treatment of malignant cancer at Saint Luke's Hospital, Dublin will be in operation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospital Cobalt Unit.
7.
The detailed arrangements for the installation and bringing into operation of the radioactive cobalt treatment unit at St. Luke's Hospital are primarily matters for the authorities of that hospital. I am informed, however, that the hospital authority expect to have the unit brought into operation for the treatment of patients in about three months' time.
In view of statements made in public recently regarding this unit, I think I should explain that approval in principle of a grant from the Hospitals Trust Fund for the purchase of a suitable machine was conveyed to the hospital authority in October, 1959. Following consideration by that authority of the various types then in course of manufacture, the purchase of a unit of a particular type was approved in February, 1960, and the necessary order was placed in the following month. Delivery was not effected until April last, a date later than had been anticipated. The delay, which was due to causes outside the control of the hospital authority, was mainly attributable to the wish of the manufacturers to incorporate certain mechanical improvements which the operation of similar machines elsewhere had shown to be desirable. In that connection, it will be appreciated that equipment of this nature is not yet standardised but is still in course of development and that if the improvements had not been incorporated in the course of manufacture, it would be necessary to take the unit out of commission later in order to effect them. The interval from the date of delivery to the date when the unit will be available for treatment of patients is necessary for installation and the subsequent elaborate testing.