Attributing the description ‘centres of excellence’ to describe future treatment centres for cancer had to be challenged by all who live in the counties remote from the designated centres.

This was advocated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she questioned the proposed national cancer policy which posed great hardship for people who are geographically remote from the proposed centres of excellence.

“Best practice is not being observed by those in charge of implementing future cancer services as it ignores the population justification of a cancer centre in the North West and relies on a theoretical model of treatment which is overly influenced by financial considerations”, she said.  “Centres of Excellence is a term used to whip all of us into line but the reality is that eight centres were named as excellent without any rigorous assessment. The finger was then pointed at other centres as somehow being less than excellent, again without any rigorous assessment.  In order to be deemed excellent a centre must earn that title, it can’t be conferred by Ministerial orders in an effort to justify Government policies”, Marian Harkin said.

When expert opinion put forward by cancer treatment specialists who have had years of experience in Ireland, and training in the world’s best ‘centres of excellence’, seriously questioned the current HSE policy it was time to shout stop, she said.

“Politicians, like me, are sometimes reluctant to challenge policy in the health sector because of our lack of expertise but we have a duty to be greatly concerned when at least one eminent practitioner in cancer services, Professor John Crown, debunks the proposed ‘centres of excellence’ strategy and strongly advocates a more suitable strategy for the North West and the Midlands, she said.

“Before it is too late there is an urgent need to question a cancer policy which will compromise outcomes for people  who continue to be threatened with ‘death by geography’”, the Independent MEP said.

“When the Government designates less ‘centres of excellence’ than is justified by population and their location, the suspicion has to arise that privately owned services will be surreptitiously added in the future to replace existing public hospitals which are fully capable of delivering for the people of the remoter areas”, Marian Harkin said.

When Ireland’s leading cancer specialist has said that the cancer treatment policy currently being foisted on the nation is a ‘colossal surrender to big hospital and medical school politics’, there was urgent need to question the current ‘centres of excellence’ policy which had to o easily been accepted as being in the interest of all of the people of Ireland, Independent MEP Marian Harkin said.