THE Government is to come under unprecedented pressure to deliver radiotherapy for public as well as private patients at a new hospital which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern opens in Waterford next week.

THE funding for the maintenance and development of cancer services has been laid bare (Irish Examiner, November 22).

MORE than 4,000 women are waiting up to two years for a mammogram that can detect breast cancer up to a year-and-a-half before there are any symptoms of the disease.

A LIMERICK hospital has offered to provide a breast cancer screening service to Waterford women until BreastCheck is rolled out for the south-east hub in two years’ time.

CANCER sufferers in the south-east could have full treatment services in one base in the region within two years.

Neans McSweeney

Cancer campaigners claim a private radiotherapy clinic in Waterford will not meet the area’s needs, reports Neans McSweeney.

CANCER campaigners from across the South-East will be demanding a definitive answer from the Government on public radiotherapy for the region when they march on the Dáil this week.

RADIOTHERAPY campaigners have given a strong endorsement of a new public-private proposal to provide cancer care to patients on the grounds of Waterford Regional Hospital.

CANCER patients in the south-east travelling to Dublin for radiotherapy treatment have the worst transport options in the country.

THE Government is breaking its own guidelines for the safe provision of chemotherapy by failing to provide dedicated cancer wards at hospitals.

CAMPAIGNERS for cancer services in the South-East are planning protest rallies after the regional health board abandoned its fight for radiotherapy in the region.

MOTHER of four Bridget Guiry had developed lesions on her liver by the time her breast cancer was detected.

CANCER service campaigners are taking their fight to the Dáil today to press for radiotherapy services for the south east at Waterford Regional Hospital.

AS THE Tánaiste makes key decisions in the weeks ahead regarding Ireland’s cancer services, the Cancer Care Alliance (CCA) is sincerely hoping those decisions will be right for all cancer patients and will truly meet the needs of cancer patients outside Dublin, Cork and Galway.

Neans McSweeney

CAMPAIGNERS seeking radiotherapy services for the south-east have called on the Government to reverse its decision to centralise cancer care after an expert report recommended regional centres be provided.

CANCER patients who were forced to travel from the south-east to Dublin for radiotherapy have died less than 24 hours after receiving treatment due to the strain of the journey.

IN the Irish Examiner of Saturday, March 20, under the headline ‘Protesters demand cancer services,’ it was stated that ‘hundreds’ attended the protest in Waterford.

HUNDREDS of protesters yesterday demanded that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern honour his commitment to give a cancer radiotherapy service to the south-east.

A CONTROVERSIAL report on radiotherapy services which claimed patients did not rate travelling for treatment among their top 10 concerns will come under the Dáil spotlight today.

TWO separate applications to provide radiotherapy services in private hospitals proposed for the South-East is proof that cancer sufferers need the facilities, say campaigners.

A GROUP concerned with providing better facilities for cancer sufferers has criticised the Government for fast-tracking millions into the development of an events centre rather than investing in additional oncology services.

A MEMBER of the expert review group asked to recommend sites for radiotherapy services has criticised the methods used in a survey to assess patients’ priorities.

CONCENTRATING radiotherapy services in centres of excellence in Dublin, Cork and Galway was in the best interests of all patients, the Irish Cancer Society said yesterday.

HEALTH officials are spending more on transporting cancer patients from the South-East to Dublin for radiotherapy than it would cost to build a local treatment centre.

JANE BAILEY wants no other family to endure the wait, trauma and agony of late cancer diagnosis. Her husband, Kieran, had developed secondary cancer in one of his lungs by the time his testicular cancer was diagnosed.