A CANCER specialist who threatened to stop seeing patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda after being excluded by the HSE from discussions on the appointment of a second consultant medical oncologist to the hospital has decided not to resign after all.
In a letter to the hospital's manager, Prof Des Carney said he was rescinding his decision to resign on March 31st because of concerns around continuity of care for patients if he left.
Prof Carney, who is based at Dublin's Mater hospital but visits the Lourdes hospital every week, said in his letter, seen by The Irish Times, that his plan to leave the hospital had led to "considerable stress and uncertainty" for patients, their families, and for the oncology staff at the hospital.
He said it had not been possible for a variety of reasons to make the arrangements that would allow a smooth transition of care for patients at the hospital who were undergoing chemotherapy.
"In view of all this I am duty- and honour-bound to notify you that I am rescinding my decision of October 2007 and will continue my Wednesday clinic in the hospital until such time as appropriate arrangements for my replacement consultant are in place," he wrote in his letter.
Prof Carney has been the only medical oncologist at the Lourdes hospital for the past 17 years and had been seeking the appointment of a second consultant for some time.
A new appointment, again linked to the Mater hospital, was planned. However, the HSE decided last year - without discussing the issue with him - to share the new appointment with Dublin's Beaumont Hospital. Prof Carney was disappointed the new appointment wasn't discussed with him, after he had battled for years for more resources for the medical oncology unit.
It is not yet clear if the HSE will accept his decision to stay on given the current plans for the reorganisation of cancer services across the State.
Breast cancer services, for example, are due to be moved from the Lourdes hospital to one of the eight designated cancer hospitals across the State in coming months. However, there will still be a requirement for chemotherapy services to be provided in smaller hospitals like Drogheda.
The local Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said yesterday he very much welcomed Prof Carney's decision to continue treating cancer patients in Drogheda until better arrangements were put in place elsewhere.
"It's critically important for his patients and the people he has helped up to now," he said.