New appointment to boost radiotherapy services

CANCER patients from parts of the South East who need radiotherapy can expect to be treated quicker and closer to home due to the appointment of a specialist at Cork University Hospital.

An extra consultant oncologist with specific responsibility for patients in the South East is to be appointed there, allowing more patients from Waterford in particular be treated in Munster.

Up to now, most were referred to Dublin.

Despite being closer to Cork than Dublin, most patients in Waterford have been referred to St James’ Hospital in the capital.

Services in Cork are to be improved shortly with two extra linear accelerators - the machines which provide radiotherapy - about to be installed there.

The improvement is not the solution to all the problems encountered by cancer patients in Waterford and the South East. But it is a step in the right direction, said Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Séamus Ryan.

He said that the fight for radiotherapy in Waterford will go on though.

“We have had a situation where there were waiting times for patients from the South East going to Dublin. Now we will have a consultant in Cork with a formal attachment to the South Eastern Health Board area. Patients travelling will be able to see a consultant radiation oncologist in Cork.”

A South Eastern Health Board spokesperson said it will now be the only health board in the country with three consultant oncologists, offering an unrivalled service to cancer patients.

The Government will be under further pressure to deliver radiotherapy services for Waterford and the south east next month when a delegation from the region meets Health Minister Micheál Martin.

The minister has agreed to meet with a delegation from Waterford City Council to discuss the possibility of developing radiotherapy services at Waterford Regional Hospital.

While such a cancer service is proposed at two private hospitals being mooted in the city, public representatives say Waterford Regional Hospital is the best base for a radiotherapy unit for public patients.