Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion

Ms Rachel Morrogh:

Yes. Ms Power mentioned the rapid-access clinics for breast, prostate and lung cancer. They are not meeting the KPIs that have been set for them. Then there are the cancers for which there are no rapid-access clinics. Potential sufferers of those are the ones sitting on radiology waiting lists. For somebody who has a typical symptom easily identifiable as a possible symptom of cancer will get faster access. I was speaking to a radiologist recently and there was a woman who just had back pain as her symptom. She was on a radiology waiting list for nine months and she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. We need to ensure everybody gets access to diagnostics. It is the key. It is the central pathway into timely care and treatment and we need to focus more on it. It needs to be on the agenda of every political party at every parliamentary party meeting. It needs to be on the agenda of Cabinet every week until it is solved.

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