Call for action on colonoscopy delays

WITH more than 1,000 people waiting more than three months for a colonoscopy, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has urged people to avail of the procedure under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

Yesterday, the society said it did not understand why the waiting list for colonoscopies continues to grow when the NTPF had indicated it can source treatment immediately for patients waiting more than three months.

Currently there are 1,073 people waiting more than three months for a colonoscopy, a 13% increase since May. In December 2009, there were 852 patients waiting more than three months, 25% less than the latest figure.

ICS nursing services manager Joan Kelly said they were urging people waiting for a colonoscopy in a public hospital for more than six weeks to contact their GP to see if they could schedule the procedure – the most effective test for diagnosing bowel cancer – as soon as possible.

ICS head of advocacy and communications, Kathleen O’Meara, said they were at a loss to know why hospitals were not using this resource.

“We understand that the NTPF has written letters to patients currently waiting more than three months to tell them they are entitled to a free colonoscopy. We do not know why patients are not taking up the offers in greater numbers, but the response rate is less that 20%.”

Fine Gael Seanad health spokesperson, Frances Fitzgerald, said regardless of whether patients were considered routine or urgent, they could still be facing a cancer diagnosis, “so time is absolutely of the essence”.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) was put under pressure to improve urgent referral times for patients following the death in October 2007 of 41-year-old Kilkenny woman Susie Long, who, as a public patient, waited seven months for a colonoscopy only to find that her cancer was terminal.

Last night, the HSE said they had reduced the number of people waiting for urgent referral month on month and in May this year, there were 44 patients waiting more than four weeks, down from 363 in October 2009.