Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I dealt with this earlier today. It is a matter of great concern, especially for cancer care, and Professor Keane is in discussions with the professional organisations, particularly the Irish College of General Practitioners, about the form of referral so that we can separate what would be broadly called urgent from routine cases. There are protocols and best practice models in place in many jurisdictions, including Canada, that we will put in place here. The intention is that people will be diagnosed within a two-week timeframe. They can get early diagnosis and treatment. That will be done for the main cancers at the eight centres.

We have all acknowledged that the best health care system is one in which consultants deliver the service, not just lead the team. That requires doubling the number of consultants. This year we will begin to recruit those additional consultants, including in cancer care.

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