Cancer patients must travel to Dublin

CANCER patients in the south of the country must travel to Dublin at their own expense to avail of highly specialised imaging equipment crucial in the management of the disease.

This is because a high-tech PET/CT scanner service is not yet available in the Health Service Executive (HSE) South despite the fact that a new purpose-built facility to house the scanner was completed at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in June last year.

A statement from the HSE said it was “advancing the commissioning process on a phased basis in tandem with the recruitment of staff”.