Vol. 553 No. 3
102 Mr. Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to ensure that Tralee General Hospital is made a centre of excellence for providing treatment for women with breast cancer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13944/02]
The planning, organisation and management of services at Tralee General Hospital is a matter for the Southern Health Board. As the Deputy is aware, the report of the sub-group of the national cancer forum Development of Services for Symptomatic Breast Disease was published in March 2000 and contains recommendations for the establishment of a network of specialist breast units throughout the country, and the appropriate infrastructure, personnel and equipment which is needed for such specialist units. The report also makes recommendations regarding the siting of such units in each health board area. The report recommends that, based on the population in the board's functional area, it is appropriate that two centres of excellence be located in the south. The report also recommends that women with breast disease are best served by a team of specialists working together and that women experience better outcomes if their cancer is managed in centres developed along the lines of the sub-group report.
The Southern Health Board's own proposals for the development of symptomatic breast disease services are informed by the report's recommendations. Accordingly, in line with the recommendations of the report, the board is to develop two individual symptomatic breast disease centres of excellence, located at South Infirmary-Victoria Hospital and Cork University Hospital. These centres will function as one unit with regard to audit, data collection, protocols, teaching and quality assurance. On a day to day management level, two individual teams of clinicians and specialists nurses working independently in the two hospitals will carry out the clinical management of patients with symptomatic breast disease.
The current level of oncology services in Tralee General Hospital are being maintained. A dedicated oncology unit was established in 1999, operating five days a week and staffed by an oncology nurse specialist and three staff nurses. The specialist nurses in this unit co-ordinate the treatments for patients, manage side effects from cancer and chemotherapy and provide information and psychological support for patients and their families. The unit also co-ordinates care of patients attending other centres for chemotherapy and provides local support for patients and their families. The medical supervision of the oncology services provided at Tralee General Hospital is the responsibility of the consultant medical oncologist in Cork University Hospital who attends at Tralee General Hospital twice per month. The continued development of oncology services in Tralee General Hospital is also a matter for the Southern Health Board in the first instance.
103 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the timeframe intended for the commencement of orthopaedic services at Mayo General Hospital. [13945/02]
The development of orthopaedic services at Mayo General Hospital is a matter for the Western Health Board. My Department has asked the chief executive officer of the board to write directly to the Deputy with the information he has requested.
104 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the provision of a rheumatology service at Mayo General Hospital; when rheumatologists will be appointed; if funding has been put in place for this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13946/02]
As the Deputy is aware the provision of health services at Mayo General Hospital is the statutory responsibility in the first instance of the Western Health Board. The board has informed me that there is one consultant rheumatologist at present in the Western Health Board based at Merlin Park Regional Hospital and services for patients from the Mayo area are provided by this consultant. I understand from the Western Health Board that the provision of a consultant rheumatologist at Mayo General Hospital is being considered in the context of the development of the orthopaedic services at Mayo.
The board is preparing a strategic plan for the development of rheumatology services. This strategic plan is at a very advanced stage and will be placed before the Western Health Board for consideration and adoption within the next two to three months. The further development of rheumatology services in the Western Health Board region will be considered in the context of additional funding available for acute hospital service developments in 2003 and the associated competing priorities.
