Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Implementation of the national cancer control programme is a major priority for me and the Government. I fully support the appointment by the Health Service Executive, HSE, of Professor Tom Keane as interim national cancer control director. The delivery of cancer services on a programmatic basis will serve to ensure equity of access to services and equality of patient outcome, irrespective of geography.

The recent decisions of the HSE to designate four managed cancer control networks and eight cancer centres will be implemented on a managed and phased basis. A detailed transitional plan will be put in place to facilitate the progressive, gradual and carefully managed transfer of services during the next two years or so. The HSE plans to have completed 50% of the transition of services to cancer centres by end 2008 and 80% to 90% by end 2009.

To comply with the national quality assurance standards for symptomatic breast disease, the HSE has directed 13 hospitals with low case volumes to cease breast cancer services immediately. The 13 hospitals concerned performed a combined total number of 55 breast cancer procedures in 2005. A number of the hospitals had in practice already discontinued symptomatic breast services. The National Hospitals Office has planned the redirection of this symptomatic caseload. Further staged reductions in the number of hospitals providing breast cancer services will occur in the next two years in line with the development of quality assured capacity in the eight designated centres.

Professor Keane and the HSE have emphasised the importance of mobilising existing resources and redirecting them to achieve the national cancer control programme objectives. An additional €20.5 million was allocated to the HSE this year for cancer control, an increase of 74% on the comparable 2006 investment and includes €3.5 million to support the initial implementation of the national cancer control programme. Further investment in cancer control will be based on the reform programme now being implemented by the HSE.

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