Public patients at the State's only radiotherapy treatment centre outside Dublin have to wait up to four months for treatment after a cancer diagnosis. The waiting time is set to lengthen considerably because of the breakdown of one of the radiotherapy treatment machines at Cork University Hospital.
Cancer specialist Dr Seamus O Cathail told The Irish Times more than 100 people were now waiting for treatment on the linear accelerator used to treat tumours. It was traumatic for patients with a cancer diagnosis but who were not being treated.
The machine has been out of commission since the end of November. Dr O Cathail said it had been fixed but did not last.
"We have being doing our best to transfer people to the cobalt machine but a huge waiting list is building up. It has been very traumatic for patients and staff. Staff have been unable to give assurances and have to listen to complaints. Of course the patients need somewhere to vent their anger and the staff understand that, but it is hard."
Dr O Cathail said the breakdown had added to the pressure in the already over-stretched unit. Bed capacity was very low compared to hospitals in Dublin; for a hospital with a catchment area of a million, the unit had 11 seven-day beds and five five-day beds.
Last year he had diagnosed cancer in a woman from Kerry: "By the time she got a bed, it was four months later. We urgently need a new linear accelerator." It would cost about £500,000.
The machines had a lifespan of 10 years, he said, and the linear accelerator in his unit was the oldest machine of its kind in the State. It was bought after fund raising efforts by the charity group ACT, which raised 50 per cent of the cost. By now, it was "reaching the end of its natural life".
In a statement, the Southern Health Board said it had a "constructive" meeting with officials from the Department of Health yesterday to discuss the machine's breakdown. Management had put proposals to the officials which were to be considered.
A reply is expected from the Department within a week.
"In the meantime, management are working to have the linear accelerator back in order next week and are keeping the situation under constant review. The board regrets the great disturbance and inconvenience to patients and is doing everything in its power to rectify the situation."
The radiotherapy unit treats about 1,600 new cases each year; about a third are treated with the linear accelerator machine, which treats tumours in the oesophagus, stomach and cervix.