Vol. 451 No. 7
14 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health the number of times the radiotherapy machines at St. Luke's Hospital, Dublin 6, have broken down from January 1995, to date; and the plans, if any, he has to improve the service. [7007/95]
, Limerick East): The operational efficiency of radiotherapy equipment can reasonably be measured in terms of machine downtime as a proportion of total operational time. Radiotherapy equipment, of necessity, requires to be temporarily taken out of service for a variety of reasons, including calibration and validation work, preventative maintenance and, on occasion, for repair work.
I have been informed by the hospital that in January 1995 particular technical difficulties arose with some of the hospital's treatment equipment. Following these difficulties a comprehensive maintenance service contract was put in place to bring the hospitals linear accelerators back up to full operational capacity. One of the machines has now been significantly upgraded and another is scheduled for upgrading over the Easter weekend, to minimise disruption to patients. In addition, a full-time engineer has been on-site from February.
Contingency arrangements are automatically put in place by the hospital when equipment is temporarily out of use, so as to ensure that all emergency cases are accommodated and to ensure continuity of treatment. Alternative treatment machines are used as required and, where necessary, a back up service is available from another health agency for patients requiring treatment planning prior to radiotherapy. I understand that these procedures are operating successfully.
In December 1994 approval issued to the hospital to purchase new radiotherapy equipment at a cost of £3 million. A new simulator has been ordered and is expected to be commissioned in May 1995. Construction work on a new building to house new linear accelerators has also recently commenced. The first of the new machines is expected to be commissioned in November 1995.
Pending the commissioning of the new equipment the hospital has advised that it is satisfied that the present arrangements will ensure that the highest level of service is available to patients attending St. Luke's and St. Anne's Hospital.
