This article is from page 17 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
CLARE Fianna Fail TD, Timmy Dooley has performed a u-turn on the loss of Clare’s mammography service, claiming that travelling for the service to Limerick and Galway is now the best outcome for Clare (eyenles tb
In his maiden speech to the Dail last July, Deputy Dooley said he was deeply unhappy over the decision to end the mammography service at NKR eroloeye
“The genesis of this service was
based on the efforts of a local group of women who raised funds to put the equipment in place. Without con- sultation, however, the HSE proposes to end the service. This shows a great lack of understanding of the volun- tary sector and an arrogance on the part of the HSE.
“The HSE has not put forward a credible service plan to cater for the women of Clare in Limerick and Cre Ne
“They have done nothing to pro- vide reassurances that a centre of ex- cellence will be established and this
adds to the suffering of people who are already in very vulnerable situ- ations.”
But speaking on the same issue in the Dail last week, Deputy Dooley said he had sympathy with people in areas that are losing cancer services.
“When I first learned that Ennis General Hospital would lose its mam- mography services, I was deeply con- cerned but when I sought the advice of clinicians and consultants, it was clear that the best outcome from the patients’ point of view was to travel to either Limerick or Galway.
‘The reason is that enough patients were not using the service in Ennis to keep the skill levels of those uti- lising the equipment up to speed or to keep the system or the machinery calibrated.”
Speaking last year, Professor Ra- jnish Gupta, HSE Mid-West Director of Cancer Care Services, said, “The decision to discontinue mammogra- phy in Ennis is driven by the need to provide the best possible clinical practice.
“The time came to bite the bullet. Centres where less than 1,000 mam-
mograms are being done in a year do not provide the volume of work necessary for the maintenance of the required level of professional skills,” he added.
Consultant radiologist, Dr Paul Hession said “The benefits of this change are that the people of Clare can be assured that the service is in line with international best practice and subject to all the checks and bal- ances that ensure such a unit fulfils its remit. A standalone unit in Ennis would not have these benefits and protections.”