*Lorraine White at the BreastCheck mobile unit in Ennis. Photograph: Páraic McMahon.
A RUAN cancer survivor has said the temporary removal of the BreastCheck mammogram mobile unit serving the entire county is “very stressful”.
On Friday (October 30th), the BreastCheck mobile unit located in Ennis will relocate to Co Mayo. Though this has been the standard practice for the past fifteen years, it has caused considerable stress and frustration for women and men awaiting appointments, some of whom have received letters to arrange mammograms in Galway, Limerick or Tipperary.
Situated in the car park of Clare County Council’s headquarters in Ennis, the mobile unit has been based in the county town since February 2024 with up to seventy percent of eligible persons now screened. The previous period of screening for the county ran from March 2021 to January 2023.
No exact confirmed date on its return has been provided by the HSE but politicians have stated it will be back in Clare “next autumn”. Co Clare previously had a permanent screening unit at Ennis Hospital which was decommissioned in 2005.
Lorraine White was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in 2019 at the age of thirty nine. She has been frustrated by the manner in which the mobile unit operates. “As a breast cancer survivor, it is super stressful when you are getting constant screening, I was diagnosed in 2019 and I have to go back every twelve months for a yearly mammogram for a follow up, that is a ten year programme for myself. It is scary, it is stressful, there has been no transparency and people just got letters to say they will have to go to Galway, Nenagh or Limerick for their mammograms”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Lorraine outlined, “given the richness of our country when we have twenty six counties in the Republic of Ireland and we have twenty four units, why not get two more so that every county is covered. They have two in Dublin, one in Galway and one in Cork, they are buildings not mobile units, it is the scariness and stressfulness of it, they talk about equality for women, it is not equality. If you are coming from Carrigaholt to Ennis for breast check that is mileage and it is even more then if you’re going to Limerick. As a frequent user of UHL, I know there’s delays of half an hour getting into the car park, my last mammogram was in January and I was a good hour waiting to be called so it becomes a good three-hour round-trip from my own experience, this is what is facing women and it is also facing men because they can get breast cancer too”.
She continued, “It is very stressful and inconvenient, have they followed up on the thirty percent of people that did not get their screening done. I’ve had to wait reschedule appointments but I pick up the phone and ring, I know people are afraid of the machines and don’t like sitting in a car park to be called. It seems like we’re living in The Stone Age that we have to be checked in a mobile unit. We talk about trying to reduce stress for people but this is throwing extra stress in our faces”.
There is frustration for cancer survivors about not having a definite return date for the unit, the Ruan woman stated. “The impact is the follow up and check ups, the women who turned 50 and can get a free check-up, I was talking to one woman yesterday and she said only for the breast unit she found her cancer last year, she was due a twelve-month check-up having gone through radiotherapy and treatment, now we’re saying the unit won’t be back till next autumn but we don’t have a definite date. Do we wait until we see when it will come back, how long more do people have to wait to be called for a mammogram, the waiting list can be six months. There’s so many things, there’s the time, financial cost, having to arrange babysitters or childcare and people not driving have to arrange transportation”.
Thankfully Lorraine has overcome cancer. “My health is fine because I’m on it, I keep up with my appointments, you have an appointment every year but you are waiting every year for it to get the all clear, you now have an added stress of travelling in to Limerick or wherever to get a yearly mammogram. I am getting
in-person consultations every six months and an MRI to keep on top of things”.
Calling for a permanent unit to be located in Clare, Lorraine said, “There’s a lot of factors, we know there is already one in Mayo so why do they get a second one while we have none. There are areas in West Clare that need to access the screening process, you can nip in and out of the Ennis unit in twenty minutes so you can do if you’re on a lunch break and not be worrying about organising childcare. Why do we have to be screened in the back of a truck in a car park and not in one of our brand-new buildings. Why has our unit to leave? It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Cllr Mary Howard (FG) who has actively campaigned for the presence of the mobile unit in the county, stressed that Clare was not losing the service. “We’re not losing the service, it is simply on its rotation”.
In a statement, the Ennis representative commented, “The narrative that has been used is very frightening, we are not losing our breast check unit, it is a mobile unit and it moves around the country, that is the way they work, it can come into a location for three months to two years. This location has been in Ennis for over a year and a half, I was in there for my breast check back in March, the next time I am due to have my breast check it will be back in Ennis, it works off a list of eligible women and once it gets through that list it moves on to a new location. The reason it is a mobile unit is that the modus operandi is that every women is pretty much within thirty kilometres of a unit, it is a great service, I have used it since I was in my thirties”.
Reaction to the unit’s move surprised Cllr Howard. “It will be moving on and it will be coming back, that is the way it has operated for fifteen years, I find it extraordinary that this has become such a drama over the last few days, it is an incredibly emotive issue, we’ve all been affected by cancer, a lot of us have had scares, a lot of people have recovered, a lot of people haven’t recovered, it is a really emotive issue and it is something I’ve taken a particular issue since I was elected back in 2009”.
She added, “Early detection is hugely important, the unit will be coming back, we don’t get a date until they are up and running in their new location, they move around the country. It was very strategic to put it into Clare, it was very accessible to all whereas if it goes to Cork, Kerry, Mayo or Donegal they often have two units at a time to allow women get to their appointments”. Cllr Howard continued, “There is no need to be scared or worried, the service is coming back, it has done its time in Ennis with the list it has had. It has saved many lives and it will continue to do so”.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) said he was “very disappointed and frustrated to hear that the BreastCheck mobile mammogram service that operates in the car park of Clare County Council in a mobile unit will leave the county at the end of the week”.
Deputy Crowe stated that he has contacted the Minister for Health and HSE management on the matter. “I felt that it should remain on a far more permanent basis, at any given time around 12,000 women are eligible to be screened by breast check, they fall in the age cohort of 50-69 years of age and the uptake it huge, it is around 70 percent, there are always some who don’t show up to appointments or don’t respond to the appointment, BreastCheck write out to them again and again”.
Services are not being withdrawn, the National Screening Service stressed in correspondence to Cllr Rita McInerney (FF). She said the county must continue to campaign for a permanent breast screening facility. “The fact that a service continues to operate does not mean that we should not examine whether it is meeting the needs of women in Clare. A mobile unit moving between locations is the national model of service delivery, but we must consider the practical implications for women who may have to travel outside their county to attend an appointment. Access to breast screening should be as straightforward as possible. We need to ensure that women across Clare can access appointments in a timely manner, without unnecessary travel or additional barriers”.
A joint motion will be proposed by female elected members of the County Council on the matter, she confirmed. “Breast cancer screening is an essential part of preventative healthcare. Women in Clare deserve a service that is accessible, reliable and responsive to their needs”.
June Dillon who contested the General Election two years ago for Aontú was critical of the unit leaving the county. “Politicians of many hues are now scrambling around to reassure people that it’s normal procedure for the mobile Breast Check Unit to be removed. But they can play word games all they want about ‘rotating’ and being ‘mobile’ but the fact remains; from October 30th there will be no breast screening service in Clare. Women will have to travel to Galway, Limerick or Nenagh for screening. For women in North and West Clare, these are lengthy journeys for a vital preventive service. For those without transport or with disabilities, the barriers are even greater”.
Kilmurry McMahon based June has launched a petition for Clare to have a dedicated and permanent screening service.
