Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

We absolutely need better planning here. A lot of this comes back to staffing. Greater resources must be allocated specifically to breast clinics to ensure adequate staffing throughout the country, regardless of where people live. To secure cancer care pathways greater workforce planning is required but this cannot be siloed in the Department of Health. We need joined-up thinking. The Departments of Health and higher education must work together to ensure people are able to access places on various healthcare courses, especially radiology given its key role in diagnostics. The HSE also has a role as it must ensure there are enough clinical placements for trainees. Crucially, we need to ensure people can stay in Ireland to work in our healthcare system after qualification. As the Minister has said, these are very concerning findings. These are women who have symptoms and who are waiting for too long to be seen. It needs to be addressed urgently.

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