On many occasions I have raised the importance of a radiotherapy facility for the Mid-Western Health Board region. I raise it because many people who suffer from cancer require radiotherapy treatment and must travel long distances for it. The expert review group's conclusions were greeted with much disappointment in my area, although from soundings taken in advance of the publication of the findings it was known that the mid-west and south east areas would not get radiotherapy services. The group has focused on what it calls three centres of excellence in locations in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
Regarding the expert review group, many of its findings and research were flawed. For example, within the report itself, an independent study was carried out on the priorities of patients, with travel distance ranked 13th. The Minister regarded this as significant but what he did not say is that many of those interviewed for the survey were from the Cork and Dublin areas, where travel is not a factor because they are near the locations for radiotherapy. The Cancer Care Alliance is composed of eminent people in the oncology sector and it has stated that this analysis, and the component on travel, being used to justify the three different locations and to say facilities were not needed in other areas is a flawed approach. I do not need to elaborate any further as to why the group takes this view.
It is significant to view the breakdown of people who had to travel: those travelling 0-10 miles made up 44%, 11-30 miles made up 16% and 31-60 miles made up 20%. A place like Mount Collins, at the very tip of County Limerick, is probably 180 miles from St. Luke's hospital, Dublin. Ranking the travel factor as justification for concentrating on three locations because cancer patients do not rate the travel distance is flawed and information exists to contradict that justification.
The report also contains justification for concentrating on having four to six linear accelerators in different locations. That contradicts a professional report done in the UK by Calman Hine, which stated that there is justification for having at least two linear accelerators for a population cluster of approximately 300,000. Our disappointment in the mid-west is due to the fact that we have the money available to provide capital funding for the linear accelerators. A very good charitable trust in the area provided that funding and all it wanted was a commitment from the Department to provide the staffing resources for the facility. It was not as if it asked for the capital investment to be provided.
I had hoped the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy O'Malley, would be present. He lives in Limerick and is well aware of this situation and the concerns of people in the mid-west region. He recently floated the idea of a satellite and I wanted to find out what he meant by that – when it would happen, how many linear accelerators would be provided and so on. I do not know if that question will be answered or if I will get the obfuscation that happens here at times; sometimes I wish the Minister would respond before I articulated my concerns so that I could ask questions afterwards.
I have said in my area that Deputy Michael Noonan will be remembered as Minister for Health for the legacy of improvements he provided to the regional hospital. I congratulated the Minister of State, Deputy O'Malley, on his appointment at a council meeting and said if he wanted to be remembered for one legacy after his years of office, he should provide radiotherapy facilities for Limerick Regional Hospital. The mid-west region demands it.
A unique feature of the mid-west region is the lack of private hospitals. In other areas private hospitals operate in parallel with public hospitals and in many cases those with VHI can choose to attend private hospitals outside their own areas. The regional hospital in our area is doing a very effective job and is being developed. It has a modern oncology unit and radiotherapy facilities are an essential component of that unit.
We should think first of all of those suffering from cancer – one in three people will contract the disease in their lifetimes. Many of those sufferers are not able to travel long distances for the care they require. It is recognised by those in the palliative care sector that the condition of a sufferer travelling long distances is aggravated. I saw people's concerns when canvassing for the last election. A mother who had developed breast cancer told me: "I am four miles from Limerick city. Isn't it shocking that I have to go to Dublin for treatment and farm out my four children when I am getting only a few seconds of treatment?"
There is a human dimension to this matter. If one talks to people the most important issue for them is health care. It is interesting that Dr. Watson and Dr. Rogan, two members of the expert review group, dissented from the main findings of the report on the basis of equity and access. A mistake has been made and this issue should be examined again. The population of the mid-west region would justify two linear accelerators and they would be an important component in treatment in the area.
There is extreme disappointment in our area and it is the same in Waterford and the south east. I want to see what is likely to happen in terms of radiotherapy in the mid-west in future.
