A number of hospitals across the State are carrying out only one breast cancer operation each year, figures provided by the Department of Health to its advisory body on cancer care suggest.
The data drawn up by the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system for 2003 reveal that four hospitals - Mallow general, Cavan general, Louth county and Navan - carried out only one breast cancer surgical procedure.
The figures were provided by the department to the National Cancer Forum, which drew up the recently published national cancer strategy. They showed there were two breast cancer operations carried out at Tullamore and at the Mercy Hospital in Cork in 2003.
There were six such operations carried out in St Michael's Hospital, Dún Laoghaire, 12 at St Columcille's in Loughlinstown, 16 at Ennis General Hospital, 16 at Blanchardstown and 17 at Monaghan. More than 200 such operations were carried out at the Mater hospital in Dublin and around 100 cases at other large hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
The department's report to the forum said that in 2003 there were 76 consultants carrying out breast cancer operations in more than 30 hospitals.
It said that on average, each consultant dealt with 24 cases annually.
However, it said this disguised the fact that 17 per cent of patients were operated on by consultants who carried out fewer than 30 operations per year. The department's figures maintained that 60 per cent of consultants dealt with fewer than 10 cases annually.
Senior department sources said this weekend that the figures backed up claims by Minister for Health Mary Harney at the launch of the new strategy earlier this month that the number of hospitals carrying out cancer treatment was excessive.
The new Government strategy has recommended a centralised approach to cancer care.
It has proposed that treatment should be provided at eight centres across the State in four regional networks that would each serve a population of about one million people.
The HSE is to decide which hospitals should retain cancer services. It is also to appoint a national director to oversee implementation of the strategy.
The chief executive of the HSE, Prof Brendan Drumm, acknowledged at the launch of the strategy that there would be resistance to its recommendations. However, he said it was the responsibility of clinicians across the country to start accepting that they had to operate systems which were evidence-based and focused totally on the quality of outcomes for patients.
The department said that according to the 2003 data, 51 consultants carried out fewer than 30 operations annually and 62 did fewer than 50 procedures per year.
