THE Southern Health Board has said that up to 12 staff involved in the treatment of cancer patients at the Cork University Hospital are not being exposed to excessive radiation limits.
At present, staff who treat women for cervical cancer have to manually implant radioactive cesium in the womb, whereas in Dublin the procedure is carried out mechanically.
Yesterday Dr Seamus O Cathall, a radiotherapy consultant at the hospital, claimed staff were being unnecessarily exposed to radiation because of the absence of a special remote unit which would protect them from danger.
"We have been using a manual method of treating patients for up to 30 years. We have to use forceps to place the radioactive materials in cancer patients. The radiation levels we are being exposed to are not high, but radiation has a cumulative quality and builds up in the body over the years," he added.
However, Mr Gerry O'Dwyer, assistant general manager at the hospital, said that while the hospital authorities were not happy that staff should be exposed to any radiation, they were satisfied that the levels were within safe parameters as established by the Radiological Protection Institute and EU legislation.
Mr O'Dwyer added that the Southern Health Board had been given approval by the Department of Health to construct a £250,000 remote cancer treatment unit which would be functional within 18 months. He said the unit would include an area in which patients would be anaesthetised, a radioactive protection area for staff and a patients' recovery room.
Mr O'Dwyer said that while it was an emotive issue, the concerns of the staff would be met once the unit was in place. Last year 45 cancer patients were treated.