An emergency public meeting has been called in Ennis following confirmation that Health Service Executive (HSE) West will not reopen the recently refurbished mammography unit at Ennis General Hospital.
On Tuesday, the HSE confirmed its decision not to recommission the unit and to cease cancer screening in Ennis. The HSE said that until September patients will have to go to Galway for cancer screening and after September, they will be referred to Limerick.
The Ennis General Hospital Development Committee has organised a special emergency meeting for next Monday .
Committee press relations officer Brian Meaney confirmed that representatives from the HSE will be asked to attend to outline their reasons for making this decision. "I feel this decision is going to cause deaths; deaths of women from what appears to be an ever-increasing incidence of breast cancer. Pressure has to be put on the HSE to make sure that this decision is reversed."
Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Tony Killeen has also expressed his concerns. He was very disappointed, he said, that the HSE did not consult public representatives and the HSE West Forum before announcing its decision.
Newly elected Fine Gael TD for Clare Joe Carey said: "This news from the HSE is very worrying not just for Clare women, but also for the future of healthcare provision in Co Clare as a whole. This is a further erosion of services in the county, and I fear it is the first one of the steps in an overall move to centralisation of services.
"This situation will now create further hardship for Clare women who have to travel long distances for what should be standard medical services. It's also worth remembering that we had this service in Clare for many years, and that it was funded by the people of Clare through sterling voluntary work and fundraising. I am appalled by this decision, and its implications for the future of comprehensive healthcare provision in Co Clare," Mr Carey said.
The mammogram unit at Ennis closed last October for refurbishment which was completed earlier this year. During the closure, 402 women had to travel to Galway for mammograms. The facility has been ready to be commissioned and operated since January. It will, however, not now reopen.
The HSE confirmed on Tuesday that the decision was based on quality issues, patient safety and risk management. "It is not a cost issue. It is about providing the safest and highest quality service in the midwest for the women of Clare," said John Hennessy, manager of acute hospitals in the midwest.
The move means that, from September, more than 600 women will have to travel from Clare to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for mammograms every year. At present, the cancer unit in Limerick carries out about 2,000 mammograms a year.
Mr Hennessy has also confirmed that a new €2.6 million dedicated regional specialist breast unit will be constructed at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital and should be in operation in 2008.