More than 1,800 waiting three months for bowel cancer test

WITH more than 1,800 patients waiting three months or more for a bowel cancer test, little has changed since Susie Long died of the disease, her husband said yesterday.

Susie, aged 42, who died in October 2007 leaving behind two teenage children and husband Liam MacLiam, waited seven months for a colonoscopy as a public patient.

According to figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), the number of people waiting more than three months has increased by a little more than 1,000 since March last year.

More than 50 people are waiting more than a year for the test.

Mr MacLiam said the waiting list was going in the wrong direction and felt sad for the people left wondering if they had a life threatening illness.

“The whole point of a diagnostic test is to tell whether a case is urgent or not,” said Mr MacLiam on RTÉ’s Liveline. He said doctors have admitted that they could not make a judgment call on patients and pointed out that his wife’s case was not considered to be urgent.

The Irish Cancer Society is concerned at the increase in waiting time and is seeking assurances that the waiting times will be dealt with before bowel cancer screening begins in 2012.

Beaumont Hospital in Dublin has 444 patients waiting three months or more for a colonoscopy, the longest list in the country. Tallaght Hospital in Dublin has 219 while the Mid Western Hospital in Limerick has 180.

A spokesman for Beaumont Hospital said the number of patients waiting three and six months in March was exceptionally high, mainly because one the hospital’s three endoscopy rooms was being refurbished, work that was due to be completed next month.

He said patients considered to be at highest risk were all being seen within 28 days.

The NTPF, which manages public hospital waiting lists, said there was no need for any public patient in Ireland to be waiting more than three months for a colonoscopy.

“The NTPF has the funding and the resources to ensure that any patient waiting more than three months can be provided with a colonoscopy as a matter of priority,” it said.

The Health Service Executive said the most significant increases were limited to a small number of hospitals and it was working with those hospitals and the NTPF to increase capacity in these areas.

The health authority said its latest performance report showed that 98% of people waiting for an urgent colonoscopy were seen within the target time of 28 days.

* Patients waiting longer than three months for a colonoscopy can contact the NTPF directly at 1890 720 820.