Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 November 2020
330. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on waiting lists and the average waiting times for BreastCheck services by location; the reason for the delays (details supplied); and the work that is being done to reduce the timeframe persons must wait to be assessed. [34495/20]
View answerBased on the details provided, it appears that the concerns raised relate to access to Symptomatic Breast Disease Clinics rather than to breast cancer screening. All Symptomatic Breast Disease (SBD) clinics remained open and accepting referrals during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the light of Covid, clinical priority was given to referrals triaged as urgent. All SBD clinics have had to reduce capacity in line with guidelines on social distancing and infection prevention & control measures. St James’s Hospital (SJH) has a high rate of annual breast referrals. Patient’s categorised as not having a high suspicion of malignancy (based on GP referral data) are classified as non-urgent and the aim is to offer an appointment to these patients within 12 weeks. SBD clinics are struggling to meet the 12 weeks performance indicator in the current environment. Steps being taken to address this include validating the patient lists, additional clinics and streaming some patients into a radiology first pathway in the short-term where appropriate. Funding has been allocated as part of the Winter Plan and Budget 2021 to restore cancer diagnostic and treatment services to 95% of 2019 capacity. The HSE's National Cancer Control Programme continue to monitor performance of SBD clinics on a monthly basis and to work with the clinics to support these services.
Meanwhile, the BreastCheck programme resumed breast screening on 27 October. The focus of the restart is to achieve the maximum screening invitation rate that is compatible with safe and controlled follow-up assessment and treatment capacity.
