Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 110: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if there is a designated specialist breast unit in Cork University Hospital; the location and facilities in relation to same; the names and years of experience of specialist breast surgeons in CUH; the number of breast operations performed at CUH in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21975/09]

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 111: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of operations performed in the breast services unit in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork in each of the years 2006, 2007 and 2008; the number of specialist consultant breast surgeons employed; the surgeons' names and their years of experience; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21976/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 110 and 111 together.

Under the National Cancer Control Programme there will be no Centre where diagnosis and treatment will be provided for one single cancer. Cancer centres will provide for a number of cancers in keeping with decisions made by Professor Tom Keane.

Symptomatic breast services have been identified as the first cancer services to be amalgamated and enhanced under the programme, followed by lung and prostate. In the South, this commenced with the successful relocation of the initial diagnostic and surgical symptomatic breast care services from Kerry General Hospital to Cork University Hospital Cancer Centre (CUHCC). The NCCP has set aside funding of €5m from its capital allocation in 2009 to further support and develop the CUHCC. This will enable the development of an integrated diagnostic centre, accommodating the symptomatic breast service and the planned rapid access diagnostic clinics for lung cancer and prostate cancer. On completion of this project, symptomatic breast services will transfer to CUHCC from South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH). The amalgamation on one site of highly-skilled experts affords an opportunity to consolidate and further develop an unrivalled service for patients in the South.

The number of operations carried out by the symptomatic breast disease services at CUH and SIVUH in 2006, 2007 and 2008, based on Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) data received to end of April 2009, is as follows:

Data refer to the number of breast cancer procedures carried out on women with a principal diagnosis of breast cancer. The 2008 data for CUH are 99.9% complete while the data for SIVUH are 93.6% complete. In addition, a further 181 operations were carried out under the BreastCheck programme based at SIVUH.