Hospital lab test 10 years off the pace

THE tone of the article (January 5) on the provision of a genetic test for haemochromatosis at Cork University Hospital suggests you were taken advantage of by propagandists for reconfiguration of the health services.

The question that should be asked is why the laboratory at the largest hospital in Ireland is at least 10 years behind centres at the Mater in Dublin and in Galway in providing this test.

It is alarming that at this late stage it took a committee of four to organise a test for a condition that is particularly prevalent in Ireland and that over a decade of expensive and, in 50% of cases, apparently unnecessary tests were allowed before applying the nationally and internationally recognised criteria for test appropriateness.