John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Services are led by a team of surgeons with a special interest in breast disease supported by a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals, including radiologists, pathologists, nursing, laboratory and allied health professionals. Mammography and breast ultrasound are on site in the breast clinic to facilitate ease of access to triple assessment for patients.

UCHG also provides an outreach service to Letterkenny General Hospital so that breast diagnosis and surgery may take place there under a managed clinical network. Video-conferencing on cases allows the extension of multi-disciplinary decision making to Letterkenny General Hospital.

With the reorganisation of breast cancer services almost complete, priorities in 2009 include the development of rapid-access diagnostic clinics for both lung and prostate cancer. Outcomes in these cancers have been poor by international standards and earlier diagnosis is a key factor in improving these. With this in mind, rapid access clinics will be developed in each of the eight designated cancer centres, and UCHG is in the vanguard as one of the first two hospitals to open a clinic. This is a significant development for UCHG and for the cancer programme. The clinic provides fast-track access to early diagnosis for men whose symptoms indicate they are at higher risk. Patients can now be diagnosed more quickly - within two weeks of referral - and if prostate cancer is confirmed, the patient has immediate access to a multi-disciplinary specialist cancer consultation to determine how he should be managed.

I emphasise that the enhanced services at Galway for breast and prostate cancer, which are two of our most common cancers, are significant markers of the real and tangible progress that is being made.

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