The absence of radiotherapy treatment at Waterford Regional Hospital means some breast cancer patients are opting for mastectomies, according to cancer specialist Dr Seamus O'Reilly.
This is because their circumstances are such they feel they cannot spend weeks in hospital in Dublin or Cork, where the nearest public radiotherapy services are located.
Normally, removal of a tumour is followed by weeks of radiotherapy but as this is not needed after a mastectomy, far less time is spent in hospital. While a mastectomy can have "dramatic" psychological effects, Dr O'Reilly said some women's social situations may push them towards having one. "In the case of a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer, it mightn't be easy for her to travel and to be out of the home for five weeks," he said. "Someone has to look after the child and there may not be a father in the home to do it. This may influence her decision to have a mastectomy or breast conservation." Breast conservation is the less drastic option of having the tumour removed and saving the breast - but it involves weeks of radiotherapy.
The lack of radiotherapy in the south-east also deters some very sick cancer patients from travelling long distances to receive treatment. While he described as "wonderful" the fact that Galway is to provide a radiotherapy service, he said Limerick and Waterford also needed such services. "With 400,000 people living in the south-east, the region has more than enough of a population to justify a radiotherapy centre, he says. Dr O'Reilly is also critical of the absence of a screening service for breast cancer in the area.
hospitalwatch@irish-times.ie Hospital Watch special on ireland.com: http://www. ireland.com/special/hospital