Breast cancer screening facilities to go nationwide by 2005

BREAST cancer screening will be in place for women in Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford by next year and for women nationwide by the end of 2005.

The director of BreastCheck , Tony O’Brien, said he was confident that the targets announced last March by Health Minister Micheál Martin could be met.

The Merrion screening facility at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin is almost complete and will serve women from Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford.

Centres are also being planned for the south of the country at the South Infirmary Hospital in Cork and for the west at University College Hospital, Galway. Both of these centres should be in place by mid-2005.

“The planning stage is always slow to get rolling but once we get it in place, the facilities we need are not particularly complex. We commenced construction on the Merrion facility on March 18 and we expect to start screening there in March next year,” said Mr O’Brien.

The phased roll-out of the BreastCheck programme, which means that women outside Dublin will have to wait up to two years longer for screening, has attracted criticism. However, according to Mr O’Brien, the programme required a minimum of two years to build the centres, recruit staff and compile of register of 50 to 64-year-old women, who will be tested every two years.

“I don’t think BreastCheck could have been delivered in a rush. Obviously, when something is delivered on a phased basis, the decision is perceived as arbitrary and no one wants to be excluded from anything that delivers health gains.

“I understand that, but it couldn’t be done if we hadn’t a pilot project to learn from mistakes,” he said.

Meanwhile, a consultant has warned that the development of breast surgery is being delayed due to cutbacks.

Constantino Fiuza-Castineira, who works between Our Lady’s Hospital, Cashel, St Joseph’s Hospital, Clonmel, and Waterford Regional Hospital as part of the breast cancer initiative, believes Waterford will not get the beds and units promised in the National Development Plan.

“No one has told me of cutbacks. But it you ask if this is going to happen, and nobody tells you yes or no, you can only assume with the current economic situation that it’s not going to happen,” he said.

In a statement, the South Eastern Health Board said it had completed a list of the necessary infrastructure for the hospital, including the infrastructure to complete the centralisation for breast care services. It is now awaiting approval from the Department of Health.