Fewer than half of breast cancer patients in the south-east receive radiotherapy, although 75 per cent require it, the South Eastern Health Board has said.
It has urged an expert group to recommend that a radiotherapy unit be opened in Waterford to cater for the region's population of 400,000. Not to do so, according to the board's chief executive, Mr John Cooney, would be "inhumane".
A delegation led by Mr Cooney told the chairman of the group, Prof Donal Hollywood, that cancer patients were being prevented from seeking optimal treatment.
Most of the 625 patients from the south-east requiring radiotherapy are treated at St Luke's Hospital in Dublin, where there is an eight-week waiting list plus a further two weeks for a clinic appointment.
As well as the delays in getting treatment, patients from the south-east must undertake daily journeys over long distances for up to seven weeks at a time when they are most vulnerable, said Mr Cooney.
The group chaired by Prof Hollywood was established by the Government in May 2000 to examine the provision of radiotherapy services nationally. At present, there are radiotherapy units in Dublin and Cork, and one planned for Galway.
In a submission to the group, the South Eastern Health Board said only 20 per cent of cancer patients receive radiotherapy, where best medical practice suggests the figure should be 60 per cent for most cancers. While 75 per cent of breast-cancer patients should get radiotherapy, only 48 per cent from the south-east receive it.
Mr Cooney, in a statement to the group, said Waterford Regional Hospital had been developed as a major cancer centre in response to the increasing incidence of the illness. Radiotherapy was the final treatment required at the centre.
Given the hardships experienced by patients forced to travel to Dublin or Cork, it would be inhumane not to provide the service and would undermine the aspiration in the recent National Health Strategy to provide fair access to treatment.
"Indeed, the board has had representations from patients that the travel requirement forced on patients up to now dissuaded or prevented many patients from seeking their optimal treatment," he said. "Given the changed public expectations now about standards of service and the State's acceptance of those standards, their acceptance of such travel hardships and delays is not expected to continue."
Further concentrating services in Dublin and Cork would compound the congestion in both locations, he added. Establishing a unit in Waterford as an alternative could be done with no additional cost to the Exchequer.
The provision of radiotherapy is likely to be a major election issue in the south-east.
