The Government's objective is to provide a model of cancer care which ensures that patients with cancer receive the most appropriate and best quality of care regardless of their place of residence. To achieve this objective, an integrated and co-ordinated approach, which encompasses prevention, screening, cancer treatment — including medical, surgical and radiation oncology — supportive and palliative care, education, training and research, is required.
The publication of the report of the national advisory committee on palliative care was approved by Government and launched on 4 October 2001. The report describes a comprehensive palliative care service and acts as a blueprint for its development over a five to seven year period. My Department has provided funding to all the health boards on a pro rata basis to commence the development of palliative care services in line with the recommendations in the report.
The report recommended that palliative care needs assessment studies should be carried out in each health board area and these studies are either completed or nearing completion. Information gleaned from these studies will inform the future development of palliative care services at health board level in consultation with the consultative and development committees which have been set up as recommended in the report. In addition, a paediatric palliative care needs assessment study is nearing completion and the report of the expert group on specialist design guidelines for palliative care settings is also nearing completion. My Department, the health boards and the voluntary sector are actively involved in planning for the development of palliative care services in line with the recommendations in the report of the national advisory committee and funding is being provided for the development of such services on an incremental basis in line with the recommendations in the report.
Regarding access to palliative care services, such services are provided in a number of facilities, both statutory and voluntary, and access to such services for patients in need of palliative care, including those with cancer, is based on need. My plan for the development of radiotherapy services is that the supra-regional centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway will provide comprehensive radiation oncology services to patients regardless of their place of residence. Specifically, these supra-regional centres will provide significant sessional commitments to patients in the mid-west, north-west and south-east. Approval has already issued for the appointment of two consultant radiation oncologists at Cork University Hospital and University College Hospital Galway, with sessional commitments to the South Eastern Health Board and the North Western Health Board, respectively. I expect proposals in this regard to be finalised shortly for submission to Comhairle na nOspidéal, involving the Mid-Western, Western and Southern Health Boards, to expedite the recruitment of two further consultant radiation oncologists at CUH and at UCHG.
The immediate developments in the southern and western regions will result in the provision of an additional five linear accelerators. This represents an increase of approximately 50% in linear accelerator capacity. We will also provide for the appointment of an additional five consultant radiation oncologists. We have ten consultant radiation oncologists nationally. This will result in a significant increase in the numbers of patients receiving radiation oncology in the short term. These appointments are specifically designed to offer patients in areas such as the mid-west and south-east equity of access to radiation oncology services that are in line with best international practice.