Breeda Moynihan-Cronin
Question:98 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Health and Children when it is proposed to upgrade the breast unit at Tralee General Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3130/03]
Written Answers. - Cancer Treatment Services.
The planning, organisation and management of services at Tralee General Hospital is a matter for the Southern Health Board. As the Deputy will be aware, the report of the subgroup 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 subgroup 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.
In relation to oncology services in Tralee General Hospital, the current services 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.