4,000 women waiting two years for mammogram

MORE than 4,000 women are waiting up to two years for a mammogram that can detect breast cancer up to a year-and-a-half before there are any symptoms of the disease.

Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said she was shocked to learn that 4,183 women in Cork were waiting for mammograms in the South Infirmary-Victoria University Hospital in Cork and that some of the women referred to the hospital’s breast clinic would have to wait up to two years before they got an appointment.

“While cases of obvious malignancy will be prioritised, any woman who suspects there is a distortion in their breast, following consultation with their GP and subsequent referral to a specialist, could have to face the worry and anxiety of not knowing what is wrong for two years,” she said.

She was told by a hospital spokesperson that cases were categorised by the specialist based on the doctor’s referral letter with women thought to be the least serious waiting longest to be seen.

She also believed that the waiting list was not a true reflection of the situation because many women had opted to pay a private hospital the e120-plus for a mammogram.

The cost of both a mammogram and ultrasound test, usually carried out as a follow up test, can be around e400 with private health insurance only covering a biopsy, if one is required.

Ms Lynch said the Department of Health should consider subsidising private consultation for all the women, particularly those on low incomes, to clear the backlog and put their minds at ease.

She also appealed to the Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney , as a woman, to ensure that all the women were screened quickly.

She also believed the situation underlined the need to speed up the rollout of the national BreastCheck programme to the south and west from the projected start-up date of 2007.

A spokesman for the Health Service Executive (HSE) Southern Area said there was no average waiting time for mammograms.

“A patient with a clinical suspicion of malignancy will normally be seen on the same working day or within five working days at the most,” he said.

A patient with no clinical indications of breast malignancy would, he said, be given the next routine appointment for a mammogram, which was currently 24 months.

“All these referrals are prioritised by the consultant radiologist, based on the clinical information given,” he pointed out.

Cancer care campaigner Jane Bailey emphasised the importance of early detection as she said screening can detect breast cancer 18 months before there are any symptoms of the disease.

“It really is the difference between survival and death,” she said.