Michael Fitzmaurice TD has backed calls by cancer charities and medical professionals for an investigation to be carried out into the cancellations of significant numbers of cancer operations.
Commenting on the issue Michael Fitzmaurice said “With Daffodil Day taking place this Friday it is a scandal that hundreds of cancer operations around the country are being cancelled every month because of the shortage of staff and a lack or resources. The Health service seems to be stumbling from one crisis to another and if we cannot treat people who need vital surgery to treat a condition as serious as cancer then we have to question where we are going as a country”.
“I am backing the call by cancer charities and medical professionals that an immediate investigation be carried out into reports into the cancellations of significant numbers of cancer operations at designated cancer centres around the country. It is a stressful enough time for people who have cancer without getting news that vital surgery to treat their condition is being cancelled. It is a scandalous way to treat people. There are reports that there are over 400 consultants posts lying vacant in the HSE and I am calling on Minister Harris to make an urgent statement on this very serious matter” he said.
Michael Fitzmaurice went on to say “The way our health system is being run must be reviewed and overhauled without delay. We just cannot continue to go from one crisis to another while people who have a right to be treated are having their appointments and surgeries cancelled.With our ageing population this problem is set to increase in the coming years if something is not done. We need clear planning for the future and not just a few sticking plaster solutions in the short term. Minister Harris, the HSE, and The Government need to step up to the plate on this life or death issue because the situation as it stands simply cannot continue” he concluded.