MORE THAN 470 women with breast cancer symptoms who required urgent assessment at one of the State’s eight specialist cancer centres had to wait more than two weeks for appointments during the first five months of this year, new figures show.
In addition, 252 women requiring routine or non-urgent assessment had to wait more than three months to be assessed.
This is in breach of standards set by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) which state urgent referrals should be seen within two weeks and routine referrals within 12 weeks.
New figures from the HSE in relation to the performance of the designated cancer centres and the first to be produced so far this year show that 95.6 per cent of urgent referrals across the State were seen within two weeks in May, up from 93.6 per cent in January, and 98.1 per cent of routine referrals were seen within 12 weeks in May compared to 96.9 per cent in January.
The HSE’s National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) aims to ensure 95 per cent of patients are seen within the target timeframes set down by Hiqa.
The two designated centres which fared worst in terms of meeting Hiqa’s targets during May were Waterford Regional Hospital and Cork University Hospital (CUH). Waterford saw 89 per cent of urgent referrals within two weeks and 88 per cent of routine referrals within 12 weeks, while CUH saw just 81 per cent of urgent referrals within two weeks in May.
Prof Arnold Hill, deputy director of the NCCP, said while two cancer centres were slightly below the target of 95 per cent adherence to Hiqa standards during May, he was satisfied urgent referrals to those centres not seen within two weeks “were prioritised and seen within three weeks which remains within acceptable clinical norms”.