The organisation gives potential recruits a choice of where they are located and has failed so far to recruit staff for operating Breast check in Donegal.

Donegal Action for Cancer Care said this week the fact potential staff were given the choice of where they work was delaying the role out of Breastcheck in Donegal because staff were not choosing to move to the north west. Chair Betty Holmes criticised politicians in the county for being aware of the situation but then saying or doing nothing to address it.

Sheila Caulfield of the NCSS said there were challenges in recruiting radiographers for operating Breastcheck in the north west due to a general shortage of radiographers. She said a very intense recruitment policy had failed to find staff for the north west.

Breastcheck has held open recruitment evenings in Sligo and Donegal without finding staff to operate the service.

“We are looking at possibly seconding people from Northern Ireland and the UK,” she said. “Although we give people the choice as to location we have put in place a strategy to try and recruit people in the north west, without success yet.”

She said NCSS cannot give a precise start date for the programme in the north west but Breastcheck has already placed mammography equipment in Letterkenny General hospital for up following checks for women who attended Breastcheck.

She said it could be years before the equipment is used.