Results 12,801-12,820 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I made all of the information at my disposal available to the House in my statement. I asked Professor Drumm to provide me with a report as soon as possible on the circumstances which led to the decision at the end of August to suspend the mammography service. In my comments today I paid tribute in particular to the director of nursing. She wrote the letter to the HSE on 15 August...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I do not believe anybody was removed. An appointment was made. Locums were in place. I did not speak to Mr. Naughten about this although I met him in September at the opening of the hospital which I believe Deputy Enright attended when he was supportive of the new centres of excellence even though Portlaoise lost out. The complaint was that the service was being run with locums. A...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: They will go to St. Vincent's Hospital. The mammography service has been suspended and will not be restored pending the outcome of Dr. O'Doherty's investigation which we will have at the end of the month.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: We spend a considerable amount of money on transport, with â¬20 million spent on taxis alone last year. Yesterday, when I spoke with a group from County Donegal I made the point that â¬100,000 is spent on radiation transport from Donegal. The HSE has put together a group chaired by Mr. McClintock from the ambulance service to examine transport issues. It includes people from other public...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: The Midland Health Board was given â¬7.8 million since 2001 for implementation of the O'Higgins guidelines. I do not know where that money went but surgeons, pathologists and radiologists have been employed.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I do not know whether these specialists sat down on a weekly basis to discuss cancer cases, as was recommended. The issue pertaining to the seven women in question was they had been given the all-clear. They were told everything was fine and to go home. Ten women who were identified as having cancer had no such ailment. They were probably subjected to a triple assessment.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: Yes.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I do not know whether there was a lump because I am not a clinical expert. Irrespective of the reason, they were sent to the hospital. Clearly, they had some symptoms, presumably including a lump, and were given the all clear. Reference was made earlier to eight women, one of whom had a second mammography carried out in St. Vincent's Hospital after cancer was confirmed. I believe she...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: Yes, because symptomatic cases are supposed to be easier to identify than screening an entire population. A second radiologist is recommended internationally in those instances because it is more difficult to diagnose cancer among an entire population when the people coming for screening have no symptoms. I am not a clinician and do not draw up the guidelines. They are developed by...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I did not respond to one of the questions posed by Deputy Varadkar. The universities had nothing to do with the selection of the centres. I know the Deputy has a particular interest in Blanchardstown where many of my friends feel this was the case. In response to Deputy Flynn, there are no National Cancer Registry data for 2006. My advice is that the data are not available. Our data, the...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: My apologies, next year.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: As I understand it, it will not be done in the same way as BreastCheck. I apologise to Deputy Reilly for calling him Deputy O'Reilly. My very efficient press officer sent me a note saying "I think you said O." If I did, I apologise. As I understand it, the screening service will be inviting expressions of interest from those who have the capacity to take smears. We must then deal with...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: The jury is still out on what will happen in the other hospitals in terms of diagnostics. Obviously, with regard to medical areas such as chemotherapy and radiation oncology, we have designated facilities. My strong preference and that of the Government is to make as many things happen as close as possible to where people live, provided they can be quality assured. That is the only rule....
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: If it can happen, my door is open.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: That is what the experts advise. Perhaps in a couple of years there will be new advice. I know that when Professor O'Higgins advised in 2001, he recommended 12 or 13 centres. By 2007, that figure had gone down because the evidence evolving suggests that rather than 100 new breast cases each year, a hospital should have 150. The evidence is changing all of the time. The challenge for us...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I beg the Deputy's pardon.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I will.
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed). (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: The public private partnership process has not been abandoned but it is the case that through the traditional route we will have four extra machines at Beaumont Hospital and St. James' Hospital to deal with capacity issues between now and 2009 or 2010. However, we are talking about large sums of money. Deputy Reilly mentioned the Whitfield Clinic this morning but who provides the money is...
- Cancer Services: Statements (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I believe all Members are at one in expressing their sincere sympathy for all the women affected by these failings of the Midland Regional Hospital radiology services. As Minister for Health and Children, I offer an unreserved apology to the women who have been caused needless anxiety since August and, most especially, to the women who been given false results and whose treatment has been...
- Cancer Services: Statements (Resumed) (7 Nov 2007)
Mary Harney: I did not open a theatre; I launched a CT scanner.