Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2004
257 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will provide the names and addresses of those appointed to the national radiation oncology coordinating group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5159/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have arranged for the information requested by the Deputy to be forwarded to him directly.
As the Deputy is aware, I launched the report on "The Development of Radiation Oncology Services in Ireland" in October 2003. Its recommendations have been accepted by Government. The Government agrees that a major programme is now required to rapidly develop clinical radiation oncology treatment services to modern standards. It is my intention to develop a national integrated network of radiation oncology.
The twin objectives of equitable access regardless of location and an effective national quality assurance programme need to be supported by a co-ordinating mechanism, as recommended in the report. That is why I have now established the national radiation oncology-coordinating group. The group, which recently held its first meeting, comprises clinical, technical, managerial, academic and nursing expertise from different geographic regions.
The group's remit encompasses measures to facilitate improved access to existing and planned services, including transport and accommodation. The group also has the specific remit of agreeing quality assurance protocols, including guidelines for the referral of public patients to private facilities. I expect the group to develop proposals in these important areas.
258 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Health and Children the purpose of satellite centres in regard to radiation oncology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5160/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, I launched the report on "The Development of Radiation Oncology Services in Ireland" in October 2003. Its recommendations have been accepted by Government. The Government agrees that a major programme is now required to rapidly develop clinical radiation oncology treatment services to modern standards. Furthermore, the Government has agreed that the first phase of such a new programme should be the development of a clinical network of large centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
The implementation of the report's recommendations is the single most important priority in cancer services in the acute hospital setting. The Government has also decided that in the future development of services, consideration should be given to the efficacy of developing satellite centres at Waterford, Limerick and the north-west. Such consideration will take into account the international evaluation of satellite centres, the efficacy of providing this model and the need to ensure quality standards of care.
The report considers that there will be a need for continued review of service development given the additional treatment capacity requirements that have been identified to 2015 and beyond. The report emphasises that the published analyses of radiation therapy care and therapeutic outcome in the context of outreach or satellite facilities is quite limited. Such developments internationally are very recent and are being established against a background of significant pre-existing radiation oncology treatment resources. This is not the current situation in Ireland.
In recent years, for example, there has been a limited development of satellite facilities in Britain, Norway, Canada and Australia. The analysis of clinical and operational success and the difficulties encountered by these in smaller centres is not yet available. The report emphasises that it will be important to ensure that any future outreach service or collaboration with independent private centres would provide the technical and clinical quality commensurate with what is believed to be achievable with the initial phase of large centre development advocated in the report. The expert group considers that the maintenance of professional competence, and possibly morale, in any future outreach or small treatment facility with few staff, where sub-specialisation is not possible, will continue to be a significant challenge.
It is my intention to develop a national integrated network of radiation oncology. The twin objectives of equitable access regardless of location and an effective national quality assurance programme need to be supported by a coordinating mechanism, as recommended in the report. That is why I have now established the national radiation oncology coordinating group. The group, which recently held its first meeting, comprises clinical, technical, managerial, academic and nursing expertise from different geographic regions. The group's remit encompasses the development of proposals to facilitate improved access to existing and planned services, including transport and accommodation. The group also has the specific remit of agreeing quality assurance protocols, including guidelines for the referral of public patients to private facilities.
