The Government has been warned to abandon any plans for rationalising Mayo's healthcare, following a report on breast cancer treatment which is due to be published shortly by the Minister for Health.
The Western Health Board should also "come clean" on its position on the issue, the Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Mr Enda Kenny, has said. The draft report of the National Cancer Forum is believed to recommend that breast cancer patients in the west and north-west be served by hospitals in Galway and Sligo - so downgrading or dropping current services at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
Given that the health board chair is held by a Government deputy for Mayo - Ms Beverly Cooper-Flynn - it would be "politically disastrous" for the Minister, Mr Martin, to implement such a recommendation, according to Mr Kenny.
"However, there has always been a feeling in health circles that Galway and Sligo should serve Mayo, and this is just another stage in a running battle to preserve the integrity of this county's hospital," he says.
About 200 patients annually receive treatment for breast cancer at Mayo General, according to health board figures for 1998.
The review by the National Cancer Forum, a draft of which was presented to the Minister on April 6th, is understood to make the case for 13 centralised specialist breast cancer units nationwide, which would absorb some of the units currently operating in 20 hospitals.
The review maintains that there is a 20 per cent improved survival rate for patients treated in such specialised units.
The leaked contents of the draft have already been raised in the Dail, and at county council and health board level, by Fine Gael's TDs for Mayo, Mr Kenny and Mr Michael Ring.
Fine Gael's Senator Paddy Burke also proposed that standing orders be suspended at a county council meeting two months ago to allow a debate on the issue.
Mr Burke's proposal was voted down by 15 votes to 11, and he accused Fianna Fail of "running scared". His claim was rejected by the Fianna Fail chair on the council, Cllr Al McDonnell, who said that normal procedures had not been followed before the motion was put.
Mr Kenny, a former Fine Gael minister, points out that £50 million has been earmarked for Mayo General, with £25 million already spent on phase one of the hospital's redevelopment.
"Castlebar is the centre of the county, and it means that a woman in Ballycroy who finds a lump in her breast next week can have a mammogram, a fine needle biopsy and/or an operation almost immediately.
"If she has to travel to Galway, she might have to wait six weeks or more for those services, with an additional delay for surgery. This will add to her trauma - and also add to hospital waiting lists," he said. Mr Kenny maintains that the WHB's chief executive officer, Dr Sheelah Ryan, is well aware of the plans as she has attended a meeting with the National Cancer Forum.
Responding to a question by Fine Gael's Michael Ring in the Dail on April 18th, the Minister said he was "currently considering" the draft, and confirmed that the expert sub-group responsible for it would be "available to the chief executive officers of the health boards to advise on any proposed local implementation arrangements".
A spokeswoman for the health board said no comment could be make on a leaked report. However, it was "confident of attaining and maintaining" the requisite clinical and service standards in relation to breast care services at Mayo General.
The Department of Health said the final report had been sent to the printers, and would be published "in 10 days to two weeks".
