Cancer services ‘need reform’

FAR more joined-up thinking will be needed to make the revamp of the country’s cancer services a success, a leading medical expert warned.

Professor John Reynolds, consultant surgeon at St James’s Hospital in Dublin, and director of cancer services for the HSE South West region, said duplication of effort, scattering of services and waste of money characterised many hospital services across the country.

Among his criticisms were that multiple hospitals had state-of-the-art diagnostic services but inadequate treatment facilities and vice versa.

There was also widespread “post-code bias” with services varying so much across the country that some patients had no access to services at all while others had highly trained specialists on their doorstep.

The problems were highlighted in a report by the Regional Oncology Programme Office which is working to co-ordinate services between seven hospitals and hospices serving half a million people in Dublin.