Dr. Eamonn Rogers:

This question has been asked several times, and in Roscommon one of the ways of getting capacity is to use the model 2 and model 3 hospitals. Cancer care is complex and must be maintained in the model 4 hospitals. Regarding diagnostics, however, there is a delay in diagnosis and treatment because of Covid-19. In Roscommon hospital, which is a model 2 hospital, over the past 18 months we have been taking blood in the urine - I will use my own area as an example - which has a high rate of cancer detection. It is a see-and-treat model on a walk-in basis in Roscommon. There are no outpatients.

The letter arrives and the patient goes directly to the hospital. Importantly, in these times of Covid-19, there is no waiting in waiting rooms and the patient has an X-ray procedure and a camera procedure on the same day. We have done nearly 700 patients, but I can report on up to 500 patients. We had a cancer detection rate of 10% within 26 days of the letter being received and 70% of patients were reassured on one visit. This is an important area when looking at capacity, and we should use the model 2 and model 3 hospitals much more in this regard. We have evidence and this can be rolled out to other model 2 and 3 three hospitals.