Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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23. To ask the Minister for Health the current emergency oncology resources at the Mater Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34884/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I understand from information provided by the Deputy that a patient received a letter from the Mater Hospital Breast Clinic advising them that it was not possible to provide a date for an appointment.

I appreciate that this must be extremely worrying for any patient receiving such a letter. I have asked officials from my Department to urgently liaise with the HSE to examine the situation and the approach being taken with respect to appointments at the Mater Breast Clinic.

The Mater Breast Clinic is one of nine HSE rapid access Symptomatic Breast Disease clinics. The HSE has set a target of 95% of urgent referrals being seen within 10 working days. Non-urgent referrals should be seen within 12 weeks.

The HSE National Cancer Control Programme monitors the performance of these clinics. Last year national compliance with targets was 76% for both urgent and non-urgent referrals. While five centres generally met or exceeded the targets during the year, four did not. This is often caused by staff shortages or problems in accessing diagnostics or radiology services.

As the clinics consistently operate at full capacity, unfortunately, any disruption to services can lead to a backlog which can take time to clear. Where a performance issue arises the HSE implements site-specific measures. These can include funding additional clinics or providing locum cover where necessary.

The HSE has advised that the Symptomatic Breast Disease clinic at the Mater has experienced long standing recruitment challenges. While these challenges have now stabilised, it will take time for clinicians to work through the waiting list.