No State funding for public cancer patients

PUBLIC patients are having to rely on a voluntary trust to pay for their life-saving cancer treatment at Limerick’s new radiotherapy unit, it was confirmed yesterday.

The Health Service Executive Mid-West came under fire over failing to allocate funding for the treatment of public patients at the new unit at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

Minister for Health Mary Harney and Junior Health Minister Tim O’Malley have given assurances that public patients would be paid for by the State.