Doctor backed in indictment of cancer services

LETTERS and pledges of support have been pouring in for Dr Séamus O'Reilly since a letter he sent to the Tánaiste and the Health Service Executive (HSE) outlining the chronic state of cancer services was published earlier this week.

Sources close to the medical oncologist said he was being flooded with support by colleagues and patients and that he stood over his damning assessment of cancer care in the south.

In the letter, he outlined how dying patients could not find beds and had ended up in wards with drunken patients. He described the hospital's IT system as "dangerous" and inadequate and that excessive surgery and chemotherapy were being used due to the lack of breast screening facilities.