How the hospitals measure up

Standards for symptomatic breast disease services published earlier this year recommended centres to see at least 150 new breast cancer cases a year.

The hospitals which currently individually see more than 150 new patients a year are:

The Mater hospital, Dublin;

St Vincent's hospital, Dublin;

University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG);

South Infirmary, Cork.

Many other hospitals see fewer than 150 new cases a year, but are clinically linked to other hospitals to exceed this number.

In the southeast four centres are formally linked. These are:

St Luke's, Kilkenny;

Wexford General;

Waterford Regional;

South Tipperary Hospital, Clonmel.

In the west/northwest two hospitals are linked to UCHG. These are:

Letterkenny General Hospital;

Mayo General Hospital.

In the midwest two hospitals are linked. These are:

St John's Hospital, Limerick;

Limerick Regional Hospital;

In Dublin/northeast region three hospitals are linked. These are:

Beaumont Hospital;

Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown;

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

The HSE says that five other hospitals listed below are not linked but they provide triple assessment for breast cancer patients and hold weekly multidisciplinary team meetings. These are:

Sligo General Hospital;

Kerry General Hospital;

Cork University Hospital;

St James's Hospital Dublin;

Tallaght Hospital, Dublin.

Breast cancer services are now to cease at:

Mullingar General Hospital.

Portlaoise hospital is to be linked in the future to St Vincent's hospital in Dublin.

Source: HSE

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times