Vol. 417 No. 5
263 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he proposes to produce a national plan for cancer treatment in Ireland because it is felt that the lack of such a plan makes it very difficult for cancer charities to operate when there is no official benchmark to work towards.
The most effective management of cancer in a modern health service involves a multi-disciplinary approach. Consultants dealing with treatment of cancer would be haematologists, radiologists-radiotherapists, oncologists and surgeons who would all be involved in the treatment of cancer related cases as part of their workload. Each major general hospital would therefore be involved in dealing with cancer patients in the first instance. Where further more specialised treatment is required the patients are referred to specialist units such as those mentioned below. Increasingly, major surgery is a high technology procedure often necessitating a team of surgeons from different specialties and also requiring close co-operation with the diagnostic specialties.
In Ireland we have a national radiotherapy service provided at St. Luke's-St. Anne's Hospital in Dublin and at Cork Regional Hospital. Last year my Department made capital funds of approximately £480,000 for the purchase of a new cobalt unit in Cork. Considerable investment, both state and voluntary, has been made in recent yeas in the radiotherapy unit at Cork Regional Hospital with the provision of a linear accelerator at a total cost of over £873,000.
Bone marrow transplantations, a key element in the treatment of leukaemia, is carried out at St. James's Hospital, Dublin and Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin. Provision has been made in this year's capital programme to provide for the development of a new bone marrow oncology unit a St. James's hospital.
A new unit for oncology patients at Crumlin was opened last October at a total cost of £1.7 million and funding has been allocated to bring this unit into full service in 1992.
Charities and voluntary agencies play a very valuable part in the approach to cancer treatment in Ireland.
