Hospital Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 December 2013

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Questions (514)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

514. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health the reasons the breast care clinic in Letterkenny General Hospital was cancelled on 14 November and again on 4 December; the average waiting time for a public patient to be seen at the clinic after a referral from their general practitioner; the number of patients that are not seen at the clinic within the six-week timeframe for early referrals as recommended by Health Information and Quality Authority guidelines; the national quality assurance standards for symptomatic breast disease services in July 2010; the number of consultants currently available to public patients for the breast care clinic; the number of persons on the waiting list for an appointment at the clinic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52848/13]

Written answers

Minister for Health

The Breast Care Clinics of 14th November and 4th December at Letterkenny General Hospital had to be re-scheduled because of consultant leave arrangements. As a satellite of the designated cancer centre in Galway, the Letterkenny unit currently has one consultant surgeon with a visiting consultant providing one additional session monthly. In circumstances of consultant leave, where it is not possible to arrange an alternative option, every effort is made to offer appointments to patients at the Symptomatic Breast Unit in Galway.

The current HIQA target by which all Symptomatic Breast Units are assessed and reported on includes the requirement for 95% of urgent cases to be seen within 10 days and 95% of non-urgent cases to be seen within 12 weeks. The Letterkenny Breast Care Unit routinely meets these HIQA targets.

Appointments are currently being arranged for 139 patients at the Letterkenny Breast Care Unit. The hospital has stated that all of these cases will be seen within the agreed target times.