Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare
Future of Health Care: Health Reform Alliance
9:00 am
Mr. Paul Gordon:
No. Once one is in, it is a lot easier and there are clear pathways to treatment. It is easier for patients once they are past the diagnostic stage. The problem is with the waiting time where, if I am going in for a colonoscopy, I have to wait six months. Within the existing waiting lists at the end of last month, there were 5,036 people waiting over three months for a colonoscopy. Obviously, those referred for an urgent colonoscopy are seen within four weeks, but in the larger group waiting longer than three months there will certainly be someone who has a cancer and that may be at a more advanced stage than if it had been caught earlier or the person went through the private system. That is where the ability to pay comes in.