Cancer patients in the south-east are facing delays and other hardship before getting life-saving treatment.
Nearly half of the 1,000-plus people diagnosed with cancer in the region each year require radiotherapy treatment, which is not available in the south-east.
Waiting time for radiotherapy in Dublin or Cork can be up to three months and then patients must spend long spells away from home to receive treatment lasting just a few minutes a day.
An expert group set up by the Department of Health is conducting a review of radiotherapy services nationally. The Minister, Mr Martin, says no decision will be made on the south-east until the group reports. Frustration is growing, however, at the length of time the review is taking.
The experience of Mr Bertie Cullinane from Portlaw, Co Waterford, who travelled to St Luke's Hospital in Dublin yesterday, is typical.
Mr Cullinane is 73 and has had cancer of the face for two years. He has been receiving treatment at Waterford Regional Hospital and was referred to St Luke's for radiotherapy just over five weeks ago. His sister, Ms Margaret O'Sullivan, said his condition had deteriorated since.
"He has a growth inside his mouth and his face is swollen. He has definitely gone down a lot in the last couple of weeks. He has lost weight and he is depressed about his condition," she said.
"I think it's appalling that someone who worked all his life and paid his taxes could not get treatment when he needed it." Ms O'Sullivan said she knew several people in the Portlaw area who had endured similar delays before beginning radiotherapy.
Mr Brian O'Shea, a Labour TD for Waterford, said it was "totally unacceptable" that a patient who had already undergone chemotherapy, as Mr Cullinane had, should have to wait more than five weeks for radiotherapy.
A spokesman for St Luke's said the waiting time for treatment could vary depending on the type of cancer. The hospital had a policy, he added, of not discriminating on grounds of geographical location or socioeconomic circumstances of the patient.
The case for a radiotherapy unit in the south-east has been strongly made by cancer specialists from both within and outside the region. Before moving to a new post last summer, the consultant medical oncologist for the south-east, Dr SΘamus O'Reilly, campaigned for such a unit to be set up in Waterford as part of a cancer centre which, he said, could be built for £15 million.
"Radiotherapy is a seminal part of cancer care. It is used for all of the common cancers that we treat such as lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. To truly provide a regional cancer service, we must be able to provide radiotherapy in the area," he said.
Dr Ian Fraser, a consultant in radiotherapy and clinical oncology at St Luke's and the Mater Private Hospital, has also pointed to the need for such a service in a region of 400,000 people.
"I have said before that two hours treatment may involve a patient taking over 500 hours away from their home which is obviously extremely difficult for them to cope with, particularly at a time when they are under considerable distress," he said recently in a letter to Mr O'Shea.
Mr O'Shea has tabled Dβil questions for Mr Martin this week asking when the report of the expert group is likely to be completed and if it will be published. A spokesman for the Department of Health said the work was at an advanced stage.
