Beverley Flynn (Mayo, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and the improvements made in cancer services generally in recent years. I particularly acknowledge the €1 billion investment since 1997 in cancer services, the appointment of 100 additional consultants and 300 additional clinical nurse specialists.

In the few minutes available to me this morning I welcome the new strategy, which focuses on eight centres of excellence throughout the country. I wish to highlight the case of Mayo General Hospital, where a standard of excellence has been achieved in cancer services, such as surgery, going back years. I state this on the basis of the excellence achieved, not making any arguments on geographical grounds or on the social and economic circumstances people in this House are well aware exist in the west of Ireland.

As any person who knows someone who has suffered with cancer is aware, it is critically important that the standard of outcome in Ireland is dramatically improved. This must be our top priority. One must, therefore, welcome the new strategy that was rolled out by the HSE yesterday in this regard.

I wish to refer to breast cancer services at Mayo General Hospital. In 2000 Professor Niall O'Higgins presented a report to the then Minister in which he stated the optimum level of procedures to be carried out by a surgeon in a given year is more than 50 but fewer than 100. A total of 72 breast cancer procedures were carried out at Mayo General Hospital during the past year. The radiographers at the hospital see in excess of 20 people per week and deal with in excess of 2,000 cases per year. These figures represent the key indicators laid down in the O'Higgins report in respect of achieving a standard of excellence. If a service is working, it should be allowed to continue to do so. While I acknowledge that the centre of excellence will be located in Galway, the integrated service that has been in existence for the past seven years between Mayo General Hospital and Galway should continue into the future and should form part of the new cancer strategy. I look forward to reviews being carried out that will substantiate the facts I have articulated. Those facts clearly show that excellence is being achieved at Mayo General Hospital and that the service to which I refer should continue to be provided there.

One of the issues of great importance to me, which I have highlighted in the House in recent years, relates to the roll-out of BreastCheck in the west. As everyone is aware, the west and the south are the last parts of the country in which this essential service is being rolled out. I welcome the particular dedication of the Minister, Deputy Harney, to this service. In November, the static unit in Galway to deal with breast screening will be opened for the first time. A mobile unit has been operational in Roscommon since April and thousands of women are now in a position to access breast screening services that were previously unavailable. Negotiations to locate a mobile unit at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar are at an advanced stage. I ask that matters be expedited and that the service in Mayo commence operating before the end of this year or, at the latest, next January. The incidence of breast cancer in the west is extremely high and the fact that this service has not been available to the women of the region until now is a disgrace. It is important that the mobile service is immediately rolled out to all the other counties in the west as a matter of priority.

I welcome the fact the programme relating to cervical cancer screening will be rolled out nationally. However, I reiterate that regions such as the west must not be left behind again. When it comes to rolling out the service, the west would like to take the lead. This must be borne in mind, particularly when one considers that the region was almost eight years behind the remainder of the country and 12 years behind Northern Ireland in respect of breast cancer screening services.

For the new cancer strategy to work and for the centres of excellence to operate in regions as large as the west, it is extremely important to ensure transport services relating to the transfer of patients to and from other areas within particular regions are improved. There has been severe criticism in the area I represent in recent times because the transport services on offer there are completely inadequate. If we are serious about making progress, the entire plan must be implemented on an integrated basis.

The service at Mayo General Hospital is excellent and will be seen to be so when it is reviewed and examined. If something is not broken, we should not try to fix it.

See this speech in context