Rapid access cancer clinics are not seeing 40% in target time
ALMOST four in 10 people who need to be urgently assessed for suspected breast, prostate or lung cancer are not getting an appointment at a HSE-run rapid access clinic within the recommended timeframe, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Just 61.1% of new patients managed to be seen by a rapid access clinic in the target waiting time last year, well off the target of 95%.
The HSE said meeting this target was a ‘priority area’ for 2021, yet the proportion of patients seen within the recommended timeframe, which had been 71.3% in 2020, fell significantly.
The news comes after our sister title, the Irish Daily Mail, this week reported that women living with cancer-causing gene mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2 are being told to expect to wait up to four years for potentially life-saving breast surgery. Rapid access clinics were set up in conjunction with the National Cancer Control Programme to provide a fast and efficient service for people who need further tests done to check for cancer.
Urgent breast cancer referrals are meant to be offered an appointment within two weeks, lung cancer referrals within 10 working days and prostate cancer referrals within 20 working days.
But the HSE’s latest performance review shows some hospitals’ clinics managed to see fewer than 20% of patients within the recommended timeframe last September.
Only 15.9% of patients for the symptomatic breast cancer clinic at University Hospital Waterford were seen within two weeks, while just 10% of patients for the prostate cancer clinic at Cork University Hospital were seen within 20 days.
Cork University Hospital also failed to meet the target waiting times for symptomatic breast cancer and lung cancer clinics.
Just two of the nine symptomatic breast cancer clinics met the target of 95% in September 2021.
The Marie Keating Foundation chief Liz Yeates said the HSE needs to look at how individual hospitals are doing in relation to these targets as a matter of urgency and identify why some are so low. She told the MoS: ‘There should be equal access to services regardless of where you live in the country and standardisation of care in relation to cancer services is crucial.
Ms Yeates added: ‘No one should be at a disadvantage simply because of where they live.
‘Survival rates have improved for breast, prostate and lung cancer and will continue to improve if caught at an early stage.
‘We know that when cancer is detected early it is easier to treat, it means better and more treatment options for patients and ultimately leads to better outcomes.
‘We are very concerned to see how far off target we are in relation to how quickly patients with urgent referrals are seen.
‘Urgent referrals are categorised as such as they have a combination of clinical indicators such as age plus symptoms which deem them at higher risk of a cancer diagnosis.
‘It’s important to point out that not all urgent referrals will result in a cancer diagnosis. However, it is crucial that these people are seen within the best practice guidelines and they are seen without delay.
‘It is imperative the HSE looks at this and recommends a plan to ensure we come back into line with the recommended timeframes for urgent referrals as quickly as possible.’
She said that it was understandably difficult for the HSE to meet all targets during the Covid pandemic, with rapid access clinics remaining open but operating at reduced capacity.
But the impact of Covid alone cannot explain the big drop in performance between September 2021, when 60.8% of people were seen within the timeframe, and September 2020 when there were also strict Covid regulations in place across the country but the proportion of people seen quickly enough was up at 71.1%.
Irish Cancer Society Director of Advocacy Rachel Morrogh said rapid access clinics were performing below their recommended timeframe before the pandemic because of ‘a shortage of healthcare staff and a historic underfunding of cancer services which is now thankfully being reversed’.
She told the MoS: ‘Anything the Government can do to reduce these waiting times is vital in terms of ensuring people get their early diagnosis of cancer and also in ensuring that the psychological impact of waiting is reduced.
‘There have been more resources invested in cancer care but the challenge for the future is that demand for cancer services is projected to grow between 10% and 12% in 2022.
‘So it’s absolutely critical that the resources are there to meet that increased demand and make sure that future cancer patients can have access to timely cancer tests and treatment.’
‘We are concerned with how far off target we are’