Short time for huge task — specialist
THE panel reviewing the national bowel cancer screening programme has been allowed a short amount of time for an enormous task, cancer specialist Brian Cox says.
The review was ordered by Health Minister David Clark in February after revelations that issues in the pilot programme at the Waitemata DHB had resulted in some cancer diagnoses being missed, a failure which may have contributed to three people contracting the disease.
One of those people subsequently died.
Associate Prof Brian Cox, director of the Hugh Adam Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Otago, said he was glad the review was under way.
However, he queried the timeframe for the review — its terms of reference expect it will take six to eight weeks to complete.
‘‘They have a rather extensive amount of work to do. They would need to be working on it full time for those six to eight weeks, I would have thought.’’
The review will be lead by Prof Gregor Coster, dean of Victoria University’s health faculty.
The other members of the panel are Dr William Rainger, of Auckland, Prof Graeme Young (who was involved in Australia’s screening programme) and Auckland health consultant Dr Mary Seddon.
The review has been asked to ‘‘provide assurance that the national bowel screening programme is positioned for a successful rollout’’.
The Ministry of Health wants the programme in place in all centres by 2021.
The Southern DHB is scheduled to begin bowel screening in June, and has previously offered assurances it will be able to deliver on that promise.
Prof Cox, the inaugural chairman of the independent group monitoring the cervical and breast cancer screening programmes, said there was a ‘‘juggernaut’’ approach to the bowel screening programme which brooked no delay in its implementation.
‘‘They seem to think there would be a loss of face for them to slow down a bit to get it right,’’ he said.
‘‘I think that it’s more important that we get it right.’’