Campaigners furious as promises made prior to transfer of breast cancer unit 'are broken', writes MARESE McDONAGH
BREAST CANCER patients in the northwest have been betrayed for a second time, according to campaigners who are furious at the non-availability of follow-up mammograms at Sligo General Hospital.
They say that two key promises made before the controversial transfer of the breast cancer unit from SGH to Galway last August have been broken.
Health Minister Mary Harney and the then head of the National Cancer Control Programme Prof Tom Keane pledged that ongoing care including mammography would remain at the hospital, but patients are being referred to BreastCheck or to University College Hospital Galway for breast X-rays.
However, as Fine Gael last week gave an undertaking to restore breast cancer services to SGH – if elected to office in the next 12 months – patients have expressed concern about the suitability of the BreastCheck mobile clinic, which is based in the car park of Sligo retail park, for symptomatic cases.
Campaigner and cancer survivor Anne McGowan from Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, told The Irish Times that she had a mammogram at the BreastCheck facility on February 10th last but she still had not got the results.
“It was like getting into the back of a big lorry. It was freezing cold. I was not even given a paper gown and I shook from the time I went in,” said Ms McGowan. She said neither she nor her consultant had received the results yet.
A spokeswoman for the NCCP insisted that BreastCheck was a “gold-star service”. She said that the mammograms were being read by NCCP experts in Galway ensuring that women were accessing the symptomatic service and expertise this provides.
The spokeswoman said that the current arrangement was “an interim solution” and it was intended to restore follow-up mammography at SGH.
It is understood that the arrangement follows the retirement of a radiologist at SGH late last year.
Members of the Save Sligo Cancer Services Campaign are also furious at the failure to replace a 19-seater bus which brings radiotherapy patients from Sligo to Galway, despite an outcry about conditions on the bus almost two years ago.
At a meeting with campaigners in September 2008, Ms Harney said that a “luxury coach” would be provided. At the same meeting she and Prof Keane gave an undertaking that mammography would continue at SGH.
It is understood that €180,000 of national lottery funding was allocated for a new coach more than 12 months ago but this was not enough for a purpose-built vehicle which would meet the needs of patients.
The Friends of Sligo General Hospital, a registered charity, has been tasked with the job of re-assessing the demand for the service following the transfer of the breast cancer unit which will mean more patients having to make the two-hour trip to Galway.
“I still get a sick feeling in my stomach when I see that bus on the road,” said former patient Catriona McGoldrick, who travelled on it five days a week for seven weeks in 2008.
“We had a hot spell that summer and it was inhumane. The air conditioning went in the bus and you could not open the windows. The driver had to open the door anytime he stopped at lights to try and let us have a bit of air. There are only five single seats and people having radium often get burns, so you are constantly getting hurt if someone hits up against you.”
She said using the toilet at the back of the bus is a nightmare, especially for elderly men who may have prostrate cancer. “It is humiliating. Every time the driver has to brake you could fall.”
Fine Gael’s health spokesman Dr James Reilly said if his party is in government within the next 12 months and if “the necessary skills set” is still in place at SGH the breast cancer unit will be restored. “It was an excellent service very much in the mould of Sloan Kettering in New York,” he said. “The results there were comparable to anywhere else in Ireland and indeed internationally.”