Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

As the Deputy is aware, patient safety is a priority for me and that is why I established the patient safety commission. All the reform taking place in acute hospitals is with a view to their meeting minimum standards for licensing in 2012 and 2013. As I stated previously here and at committee meetings, if we had the legislation and pressed the green button in the morning, many of the services currently provided would not meet minimum standards and, therefore, are not licensable. This is why there is such a momentum behind the reconfiguration of acute hospital services in particular.

With regard to the provision of cancer services, the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin and Barringtons Hospital in Limerick have stopped providing surgery for breast cancer. In the case of Barringtons Hospital, that was at my request. The health insurance providers are taking this matter seriously and if they honour the symptomatic breast disease standards, I do not foresee anybody being foolish enough to put their money into a private facility of the type suggested in Sligo. That is my honest opinion. I do not believe that anyone would do so. Other private facilities such as St. Vincent's Hospital and the Mater Hospital in Dublin are co-located private facilities and have the volumes required under the symptomatic breast disease standards. The only other facility that I am aware provides breast cancer surgery is the Beacon Hospital in Dublin.

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