Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 February 2024
297. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health for an update on the procurement of a gallium scanner to be installed in Cork University Hospital for cancer patients and survivors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9757/24]
View answerIn Ireland Gallium-68 (Ga 68) is used as the radionuclide for two different PET/CT examinations. These examinations are for patients with prostate cancer and for patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).
St. James's Hospital currently provides this examination for patients with prostate cancer. The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) supports the use of an alternative, PSMA scans, in certain prostate cancer patient cohorts as outlined in the National Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis and Staging of Patients with Prostate Cancer 2022.
St. Vincent’s University Hospital uses a gallium PET/CT scanner for the diagnosis of NETs. St. Vincent’s University Hospital is the National Centre for NETs. There are satellite centres for this tumour type in Cork and Galway. Currently, patients at the satellite centres requiring this type of scan are referred St Vincent’s University Hospital for scanning. There is a prioritisation system for this based on clinical urgency. The waiting time has improved for access to these scans, from 5 months to 3 months, and is expected to improve further by Q2 2024. This compares with an average wait time in Europe of approximately 2 months.
The overall number of patients requiring these scans is small, with between 200 and 250 patients requiring the scan per year. The centralisation of services is a key part of the National Cancer Strategy, ensuring that expertise and resources are concentrated to provide the best possible service for patients, as this has a direct impact on patient outcomes.
