Review of breast cancer services needed – Feighan

An urgent review of breast cancer screening services across the country is needed, according to Deputy Frank Feighan. Deputy Feighan was reacting to recent suspensions of health service staff and said that hundreds of women now face the trauma of having their cases re-examined. ‘The fact that this situation has arisen after ten years of continuous government by Fianna Fáil is a disgrace. The Government has had ample opportunity to invest in breast cancer services, both in terms of screening and treatment. Yet we now have a situation where women across the country will be wondering about their own diagnoses. This comes on top of Fianna Fáil’s failure to roll out Breastcheck across the country. ‘Any diagnosis of cancer is immensely distressing. The least that anyone can expect is the guarantee of a properly funded, comprehensive, integrated cancer screening and treatment programme that you can trust. But the current situation is anything but trustworthy. There urgently needs to be a national review of breast cancer services. There must be comprehensive safety measures in place to require that all hospitals meet the same high standards, and to ensure that all patients are protected equally, regardless of whether they are public or private patients,’ concluded Deputy Feighan.