Radiotherapy unit can’t open due to lack of funds

A €12.7 MILLION radiotherapy unit cannot open to cancer patients because a shortfall in funding means it cannot be staffed.

Doctors at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) said yesterday there was now no chance of the facility opening before 2005, despite government promises that it would be

completed by autumn 2003.

Money allocated has gone into building and buying equipment for the lead-lined bunker, but no funds have been made available for staffing, despite repeated requests to the Department of Health.

UCHG head of physics Dr Will Van der Putten said even if approval for staffing was given tomorrow, the unit could not open before 2005.

“Until we get approval for staffing, we cannot advertise and it will take some time to get the staff we need such as physicists, radiographers and radiation oncologists.

“Then the machinery will have to be commissioned and calibrated, which will take up to nine months. Once the unit is ready to take patients, it will need between 40-50 staff. We don’t have funding for any.”

Consultant pathologist Prof Charles Eugene Connolly said the lack of radiotherapy services in the west meant breast cancer patients were opting for radical surgery rather than have to travel to the east coast for radiotherapy. “Only 24% of breast cancer patients along the western seaboard receive radiotherapy compared to 42% on the east coast, where radiotherapy is close at hand. The waiting list is 10-12 weeks and the course lasts three-four weeks, so many people opt for invasive surgery rather than travel.” Just two weeks ago, Health Minister Micheál Martin said the facility would be completed by the autumn and would act as a “supra regional centre (which) will provide services to the western and north-western areas.”

However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said yesterday that discussions were still taking place between the department and the Western Health Board (WHB) regarding staffing.

A spokeswoman for the WHB said they were dependent on the department for funding.

There are 10 public radiotherapy machines between Cork and Dublin. Each machine can treat about 350 patients per year or 3,500 patients annually across the country. It is estimated that 12,000 patients annually require radiotherapy, therefore only one-third of public patients receive it.

In February this year, a report on the provision of radiotherapy services for cancer patients caused a huge public outcry when it recommended that the service only be provided at three locations.

The locations identified for radiotherapy units are Dublin, Cork and Galway. The news has caused outrage in the south-east, where a campaign for radiotherapy services has been ongoing for at least two years.