asked the Minister for Health whether, in view of the need for more expensive equipment for the treatment of cancer, any progress has been made by the three Dublin cancer hospitals towards a common purchase scheme and towards a full utilisation of existing facilities.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Cancer Hospitals.
5.
The needs of the three Dublin cancer hospitals are adverted to when considering proposals for the provision of expensive equipment. A degree of co-ordination has been achieved already. For example, cobalt therapy in St. Luke's Hospital, Rathgar, is available to patients from the other two cancer hospitals.
There have been recent discussions between officers of my Department and representatives of the individual hospitals, and a meeting between the boards of the hospitals is being arranged at an early date to explore ways and means of further developing and of strengthening co-operation. These discussions will consider, inter alia, whether extra equipment may be required and, if so, how it can be utilised for the common benefit of the patients of the three hospitals.
Would the Minister agree that it might be a good idea to abandon this concept of separate cancer hospitals so as to allay the fears of people about this disease? Would it not be a better idea to have specialised cancer units attached to general hospitals?
That is one of the recommendations of the FitzGerald Report.