The Government's main advisory body on cancer care, the National Cancer Forum, has warned against the proliferation of private radiotherapy centres around the State.
The Forum believes that the development of a number of private units would not be in the best interest of overall patient care and would run contrary to official policy of having four large-scale public hospital centres to cater for the State's population.
A Government-appointed expert group last year recommended a more centralised approach to radiotherapy and argued that each centre should have a population base of more than 650,000.
It ruled out, for the present, the development of centres in places such as Limerick and Waterford where there have been vociferous campaigns for the provision of such facilities in recent years.
In the wake of the Government report, a number of private sector groups have announced plans for the provision of radiotherapy services.
A charitable trust is planning to develop a private radiotherapy unit on the campus of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. It has already raised around €6 million locally, much of it generated by a golf classic organised by the businessman, Mr JP McManus.
There are also proposals for a private hospital containing a radiotherapy unit in Waterford.
The chairman of the National Cancer Forum, Prof Paul Redmond, confirmed that it was concerned at the development of private radiotherapy facilities.
He said that Government policy was that radiotherapy services should be concentrated in a small number of larger centres.
Prof Redmond said that there were also issues about quality assurance.
He said the proposed four public radiotherapy centres, two in Dublin and one in Cork and Galway, would be reviewed by the new Health Information and Quality Assurance agency as part of the overall healthcare reforms.
In a draft letter to the Minister for Health, Ms Harney, which was circulated to members earlier this month, the Forum states that it is concerned "in relation to the implications the development of private facilities have for the use of public resources and manpower and the future development of radiation oncology services".
