Mr. Donal Buggy:

The Irish Cancer Society was so concerned about emergency department presentations that we commissioned a report on the matter three years ago. It confirmed that 14% of all cancers are diagnosed in emergency departments; those cancers are more likely to be late stage cancers; and persons from a deprived community background, versus an affluent community background, are more likely to be diagnosed in an emergency department. There are challenges within our system in that we have rapid access to clinics for more common cancers but those pathways do not exist for rare and less common cancers. There are challenges to find ways to ensure we pick up the early signs and symptoms in patients who can present to general practice and diagnostic services earlier and quicker to ensure these patients can be diagnosed at an earlier stage and have a better chance of successful treatment. One of the recommendations in the national cancer strategy is that numbers presenting in emergency departments be reduced over the ten-year period of the strategy. We need to see progress on that. We also need earlier reporting on it and we need to understand the reasons these patients present at emergency departments.