Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As we know, the earlier the diagnosis of a cancer is made and treatment commences, the better for the prognosis. The Minister has been assured by the Health Service Executive that any patient referred to St. Luke's for an endoscopy which was considered urgent by a doctor is given an urgent appointment and is seen within a week or two. That is the stated policy of the organisation. Urgent cases are forwarded daily, directly to the medical consultants, for prioritisation and general practitioners are encouraged to make contact directly with the medical consultant. That is how the system is meant to operate and how it normally operates but it did not do so in this case, which I acknowledged earlier this year. The system should have allowed Susie Long to be given a diagnosis and that should have been the case whether she was a public or a private patient.

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