Tipperary councillor asks HSE to explain removal of Breastcheck unit in Tipperary
The complete loss of the service from South Tipperary now means that women must travel to Waterford, Limerick, Nenagh or Cork to avail of this important screening service
News this week of the removal of the BreastCheck mobile screening unit from Cahir has drawn criticism from many around the county.
Local Independent Cllr Máirín McGrath has reacted to the news and called on the HSE to urgently explain why the BreastCheck mobile screening unit has been removed from Cahir, describing the loss of the service from the town as a significant backwards step for women’s healthcare across South Tipperary.
“Cahir proved to be an ideal location for the BreastCheck mobile unit. It is centrally located, easily accessible, has ample parking, and allowed women from across South Tipperary to attend appointments without having to travel excessive distances.
“The decision to remove this vital service from Cahir, without at least relocating the mobile unit elsewhere in South Tipperary, is totally unacceptable.”
BreastCheck had previously operated from Clonmel before relocating to Cahir to improve accessibility.
The complete loss of the service from South Tipperary now means that women must travel to Waterford, Limerick, Nenagh or Cork to avail of this important screening service.
“This is a deeply concerning development and places an additional burden on women who may already be balancing work, family and other responsibilities,” explained Cllr McGrath.
“Vital preventative measures such as BreastCheck have been proven to save lives, and the HSE should be building on that success by increasing efforts to engage women, improving accessibility, and even considering a reduction in the age of eligibility.
“Instead, we are seeing services become harder to reach, with no announcement or explanation as to why this decision was made.
“That risks undermining participation in a programme designed to detect cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage. If, for whatever reason, the unit could no longer remain in Cahir, then the very least the HSE should have ensured that it remained somewhere within South Tipperary, rather than removing the service from the region altogether.
“I am calling on the HSE to provide a full explanation for this decision, and to confirm what plans are in place to restore easier access to this essential free screening service for women across South Tipperary.
“Access to life-saving breast screening should be improving, not becoming more difficult,” she concluded.