Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 298: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if he will put on hold the phasing out and closure of St. Luke's cancer hospital in Rathgar, Dublin, pending his review of the services; if he will confirm when he will meet the members of the Campaign to Save St. Luke's and the reason the new cancer centre of excellence on the St. James's Hospital campus due to open in December 2010 is still not open. [8185/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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St Luke's Hospital, which provides radiation oncology services, was subsumed into the Health Service Executive under the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010 (No. 18 of 2010). Radiation oncology services will continue at St Luke's until at least 2015, when further radiation oncology capacity will be available at Beaumont and St James's Hospitals, two of the designated cancer centres. This decision is based on expert advice and is designed to ensure that radiation oncology is integrated with all other aspects of cancer care, including surgery and medical oncology. It is also in line with best international practice.

The existing radiotherapy centre at St Luke's, plus the new centres at Beaumont and St James's Hospitals, have together become the St Luke's Radiation Oncology Network with some staff and resources now transferred from St Luke's to the new centres. The first patients were seen at Beaumont on 28 March, while St James's began seeing patients on 11 April. The new centres have four linear accelerators each. While the number of linacs in St Luke's will be reduced as patient numbers transfer to the new centres, the development of the St Luke's Network means an overall increase of 50% in radiation oncology capacity over what had previously been available in St Luke's.

Although construction of the new facilities was completed at the end of 2010, the HSE took the decision on when patients should be treated based on all quality and safety concerns being addressed. There were some difficulties regarding the recruitment process, and a few technical issues around facilities management, but the start date for treatment was determined by the clinical team, based on safe patient management. I have received a request to meet representatives of the Campaign to Save St Luke's and I intend to meet them in the near future.