Breast cancer checks being delayed for up to 18 months
THE head of the Marie Keating Foundation has hit out at delays in breast cancer referrals as women are left waiting for up to 18 months to be seen.
Liz Yeates, the breast cancer charity’s CEO, expressed ‘great concern’ over delays in nonurgent symptomatic breast cancer referrals, saying many of the women will go on to be diagnosed with with the disease and that early detection is vital.
In one case, a young woman who was referred as a ‘priority case’ by her GP after she discovered a lump in her breast was left stunned after being told she would have to wait a year and a half to be seen.
The woman, who is in her 20s and living in the southeast of the country, contacted her GP when she found a lump on her breast last November. During the visit, the doctor said he was ‘very concerned’ and referred her case to University Hospital Waterford as a ‘priority case’. The GP said she would hear back from the hospital within three weeks.
However, when the concerned woman didn’t hear anything back after seven weeks she contacted the hospital directly.
During the call the hospital confirmed they received her referral and noted that it had been marked ‘priority’, but said it would still be ‘15 to 18 months, and most likely 18 months’ before she could be seen.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, the lady’s partner said: ‘She was just shocked. It’s supposed to be all about early detection, and then you’re told you have to wait for 18 months.’
The young woman is now trying to weigh up if she can afford to be seen privately.
The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) recently acknowledged ‘concerning’ wait times in clinics for patients with symptoms of breast cancer but that are categorised as ‘non-urgent’.
Authorities have blamed the delays on the pandemic and the cyber attack on the Health Services Executive. While cases may be classified as ‘non-urgent’, Ms Yeates said that for the women left waiting, their care is far from non-urgent.
She told the MoS: ‘What is of great concern to us is the reported delays in non-urgent symptomatic breast cancer referrals. While these referrals into the triple assessment clinics are clinically classified as non-urgent, for the women who are waiting with symptoms it is causing undue anxiety and stress which is unacceptable.
‘Some of the women waiting will go on to be diagnosed with breast cancer and we know how crucial early detection is, so this matter needs to be urgently addressed and given the attention and resources required to return the referral times to be in line with HSE guidelines.’
The interval for breast screening has risen from two years to three, also as a result of the impact of the pandemic.
However, Ms Yeates has called for this interval to be shortened as soon as possible.
In response to queries from the MoS on delayed breast cancer care, the HSE said they cannot comment on individual cases, before adding: ‘The NCCP has established rapid access clinics for suspected breast, lung and prostate cancers, cancers which combined account for 42% of the almost 25,000 invasive cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) diagnosed in Ireland each year.
‘These services operating from the eight designated cancer centres and one additional breast satellite centre, provide a streamlined pathway to diagnostic evaluation and specialist review for these three major cancers.’
‘It’s supposed to be all about early detection’