Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Is the Minister aware that in the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, on 26 June 2007, a clinical nurse manager wrote the following?

The Oncology service has expanded at a dramatic rate . . . . There are no dedicated allied health professionals attached to the service. This ultimately means that nurses provide all care for the patients with a Consultant overseeing medical aspects of care. This is intolerable, particularly when we have a large number of young patients with advanced stage of disease. These patients have complex care requirements and we are failing to meet these needs. There is a need for a dedicated dietician, medical oncology social worker, phsycho-oncologist, pharmacist, physiotherapist and occupational therapist.

Is the Minister aware that on 9 May 2007, during the general election campaign, Professor Des Carney had to write a letter stating that the medical oncology unit had "no option but to limit the amount of chemotherapy" administered to patients on the grounds that it did not have adequate or proper nursing staff and proposing to reduce the administration of chemotherapy to four days per week?

Is she aware that the key to the problem is her failure to provide adequate funding, which has resulted in budgetary cutbacks, inadequate staff cover, appalling pressure on the health services and the circumstances I have described in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital?

The Minister and her colleague, Deputy Byrne, who has left the Chamber, referred to the north east. Professor Carney, the chief oncologist in the north-eastern region, submitted a letter of resignation in October 2007, effective from this month, citing lack of support from the Health Service Executive, its refusal to appoint a further oncologist for the region and its decision to proceed with a new arrangement with a different hospital without consulting him.

Is the Minister aware of the appalling, disgraceful situation she has created for cancer patients in the north east? While we all support the concept of clinical centres of excellence, the Minister refused to provide proper and adequate funding to existing centres of excellence in which men and women work so hard. The HSE, a disgraceful, shameful mess, refused to communicate with the lead consultants in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. One of these consultants wrote to the Minister pointing out that the hospital was unsafe due to underfunding.

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