The appointment of a general surgeon with an interest in breast surgery would be a 'very retrograde step' for the Island.

That's according to the President of the Association of Breast Surgery, Dick Rainesbury.

Brenda Cannell MHK is campaigning for the Department of Health to retain the services of a breast care specialist on the Island.

The Department wants to appoint a general surgeon with an interest in breast - a move which has received the backing of a number of bodies including the Royal College of Surgeons and the Manx breast cancer charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Mrs Cannell had written to Mr Rainesbury ahead of her motion in Tynwald this week in which she will ask the court to agree that a dedicated consultant breast care surgeon should be appointed on the Island.

Mr Rainesbury suggests that with 64 to 94 new cases a year, shown in figures provided by Mrs Cannell, a strong argument could be made for an ADDITIONAL specialist input on the Island, perhaps in the form of a breast physician.

A new patient referral rate of around 25 per week is also quoted as being a 'very big workload for a single surgeon'.

Mr Rainesbury says a single four hour theatre session each week is not enough to carry out even very basic breast cancer surgery and ABS guidelines recommend two lists a week.

He adds breast surgery is becoming increasingly sophisticated and the overwhelming majority of breast units in the UK are now appointing pure breast specialists.

He adds there is clear evidence that breast cancer rates in the UK are NOT levelling off, as has been claimed by the Department of Health on Island.