CUH ‘struggling’ to meet demands

THE controversial decision to centralise Munster cancer services at a Cork city centre of excellence is causing potentially serious access, funding and capacity problems for patients and staff.

A report by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) has found that Cork University Hospital (CUH) is struggling to meet demands from seriously ill patients because of the increased workload now placed on it. According to the independent watchdog’s report, since CUH breast cancer services took over the workload of those in Kerry General and the Cork city-based South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) on December 1, it has met core quality and safety requirements.

However, despite this achievement, the move has caused a series of glaring difficulties for the facility, which the HSE has been told to address immediately.

Among the most pressing concerns highlighted by the report is the lengthening of treatment waiting times.

Before the service change, the hospital had regularly met target timelines for patient waits — with 98% of urgent cases being seen within 10 days of receipt of referral. However, statistics show that by July this year the figure had fallen to 90%.

During this same period, the number of patients seen by CUH’s breast cancer services has risen by 40%, with the report stating this has contributed to funding and capacity problems.

In addition to these difficulties, the safety body said while management, referral and patient care pathways are in place, there are unanswered questions over their sustainability.

These concerns involve timely appointment access for outpatients, theatre access for inpatients with symptomatic breast disease and potential delays in BreastCheck referral care.

Other issues raised by the watchdog surround “under-developed consultant on-call arrangements”, balancing workloads for symptomatic breast disease surgeons between CUH and SIVUH, and patient level variations in different clinics.

The report also stated that the structure of the symptomatic breast disease service’s governance group needs to be addressed, as in some cases the clinical director has been absent from meetings with the national cancer treatment programme.

In a statement last night, a HSE spokesperson said: “We welcome HIQA’s report of the quality review of the CUH Symptomatic Breast Disease Service.

“The HSE South and CUH, in tandem with the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), are proactively managing and monitoring the implementation of the report’s recommendations in order to ensure the continued provision of a safe and quality service for patients,” said the spokesperson.