WITH skin cancers on the rise the Health Service Executive (HSE) has only one consultant dermatologist for the entire South East region.

The need for three additional dermatologists for the region was highlighted by Comhairle na nOspideal back in 2003, and Cllr Tomás Breathnach (Lab) is calling for their recommendation to become a reality.

“The population of the region is 460,000 and the appointment of four consultants would mean there would be one consultant dermatologist per 115,000 people,” he pointed out at the monthly meeting of Kilkenny County Council. “Studies in North America, Europe and Australia recommend one dermatologist per 100,000 people. Therefore the appointment of four dermatologists would bring the provision of dermatological services closer to recommended norms.”

Approval

He also pointed to a regional imbalance within Ireland: in Dublin South and Mid-Leinster there is one consultant dermatologist per 114,796 people and in Dublin North there is one per 125,489 people. Both the North West and the Mid-West regions have received approval for a second dermatologist each, and both regions have smaller populations than the South East, he noted.

As it stands, the dermatological department at the Regional Hospital in Waterford is “stretched” to cover clinics in Waterford Regional Hospital, St Luke’s Hospital, Wexford General Hospital and South Tipperary General Hospital,” Cllr Breathnach pointed out.

“The rate of skin cancers is increasing and 700 are removed annually in the Regional Hospital,” he said. The department there runs early detection of melanoma and a mole mapping service, there is also a head and neck skin cancer clinic, and the department provides one of the few centres in the country for photodynamic therapy to provide non-invasive treatment of cancer.

“The work load in the dermatological department is too onerous for one consultant, and there are 3,500 people on a waiting list for between two and three years. The waiting time at the paediatric dermatology clinic is six months.