Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Senator so she might have the decency to allow me to continue without shouting me down.

I will reiterate for the benefit of the House the matter the Senator - "The need for the Minister for Health to provide an update on the employment starting date of a sarcoma specialist for St. Vincent's hospital". That is what I will address, if that is okay with the House.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for the opportunity to update the House on the matter. I am advised that the person recruited to fill a permanent post of consultant medical oncologist, with a special interest in sarcoma, at St. Vincent's University Hospital will commence on 1 September 2019.

More than 200 adults are diagnosed with some form of sarcoma every year in Ireland. For patients with a new sarcoma diagnosis, it is important that decisions on the management of cases are made through a multidisciplinary team process. Multidisciplinary teams can involve clinicians and other medical personnel, as well as health and social care professionals, based in several hospitals.

The outputs of their deliberations provide recommendations on the best approach to investigations, treatment and follow-up for the individual patient. Services for patients with sarcoma are currently provided in St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, and in Cork University Hospital. Both hospitals are designated cancer centres and have an extensive range of multidisciplinary services and expert clinical advice available.

A national clinical lead in soft tissue sarcomas is in place to oversee services for patients. Patients have their cases presented and discussed at one of the two sarcoma multidisciplinary teams and members of these teams have links with European specialists in sarcoma.

This Government and the HSE are committed to providing a high quality, responsive and sustainable service for sarcoma patients. St. Vincent's hospital has access to all of the relevant specialties for treatment, including surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology and pathology.

The National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 sets out the plan for the development of cancer services for the next decade. Effective prevention, early diagnosis, access to quality treatment, survivorship, patient involvement and safe high quality patient-centred care are key aims of the strategy. Services for rare cancers such as sarcoma received considerable attention in the development of the strategy. The importance of improving awareness of rare cancers among both the public and healthcare practitioners is acknowledged. Furthermore, the strategy sets out the need for clear care pathways for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with rare cancers, with particular emphasis on timely treatment planning in multidisciplinary teams, sub-specialty expertise in diagnosis and treatment, and linkages to international centres of excellence for specialist advice and intervention. There is a particular focus on the co-ordination of care in an expert setting.