Two-month delay to see cancer specialists

MORE than 1,000 patients waited longer than two months to see a cancer specialist in 2006 after first presenting to their GP with symptoms of various forms of the disease.

A study has found 15% of public patients considered by their doctors to have “urgent symptoms” in relation to cancer, had to wait more than eight weeks for a hospital appointment to get either diagnosis or treatment.

Almost one in five cancer patients, considered to have “less urgent” medical needs, waited more than four months for services.

The findings are published in a report by the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), “Early Detection of Cancer: A Need’s Assessment of GPs”.

The report was based on a survey of 1,000 GPs, each who had treated an average of eight cancer patients in the year.

It said: “With the exception of breast cancer, GPs find it very difficult to obtain an urgent appointment for a patient, even if they are confident a patient has cancer and patients may have to wait up to two months.

“They do not consider this acceptable and feel there should be agreed timelines for very urgent and routine referrals which should be adhered to.”

The report said difficulties faced by GPs in contacting consultants for appointments, as well as a lack of services in the health care system, are to blame.

Cork GP and member of the Irish Cancer Society’s Medical Committee, Dr Brendan Clune, said: “It’s an ongoing problem accessing care in hospitals. Making the early connection in terms of referral can be difficult. It’s the old traditional way of sending letters, letters get lost and patients get lost in the whole referral process. There are problems with the availability of services. What came out of this survey is that hospitals should have diagnostic facilities ring fenced for GP referrals.”

The survey also found that GPs did not have the same level of difficulties in referring private patients who had to wait, on average, less than two weeks.

Dr Clune said: “You can have much quicker access to services if someone is a private patient in terms of diagnostic facilities. There are chronic waiting lists when it comes to public patients.”

He said the waiting time can have a significant influence on the patient’s health: “All of us have had patients who are uncertain if they have cancer or not. These are the people who are most vulnerable.

“The person where there is uncertainty can be waiting around for a number of weeks to have a scan. So if GPs have better access to diagnostic facilities, they will be able to make the call a lot earlier and improve the cure rate,” he said.

The report recommends there should be an agreed criteria for GP screening of “high-risk” patients, including smokers and those with a family history of cancer.

It also says there should be an agreed referral criteria and a better system of communications between GPs and hospitals.

ICGP director of research, Dr Claire Collins, said: “The findings of this crucial report demonstrate an urgent need for the public to be more aware of possible cancer symptoms, the benefits of early detection and treatment and to present to their GPs at a much earlier stage.”