CervicalCheck director demands 'functioning' gynaecology service

Dr Nóirín Russell is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

The director of CervicalCheck, the national cancer screening service, has called for a functioning gynaecology service amid increased waiting lists across the country.

Dr Nóirín Russell, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) and clinical director of CervicalCheck, said a functioning gynaecology service is vital to ensure women with symptoms are being seen, while CervicalCheck screens those without symptoms.

Dr Russell was speaking amid increased waiting lists for outpatient and inpatient gynaecology services across the country, and increased scrutiny on the impact of long waiting times.

The Dáil recently heard of patients suffering delays in diagnosis and treatment for endometrial cancer at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said a review into the situation there found that of the 123 cases of endometrial cancer over a ten-year period, one in three women experienced a delay in diagnosis and one in five women suffered serious consequences as a result.

Dr Russell told the Irish Examiner: “We need to have a functioning benign gynaecology service for women with symptoms so that the Cervical Check programme can provide screening for women without symptoms.” 

There were more than 29,000 people on the gynaecology outpatient waiting list as of last month, according to the latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

Almost 8,000 of those have been waiting longer than 12 months for an appointment.

The national gynaecology outpatient waiting list has increased by over 10% this year and by more than a quarter in the past five years.

The number of patients waiting more than a year to see a consultant has increased by more than 200 in 2020 and more than doubled in the past five years.

Among the hospitals with the longest outpatient waiting lists for gynaecology last month was the Rotunda, which had more than 3,100 people on its waiting list, including almost 500 who have been waiting over a year.

More than 3,000 were on the waiting list at Tallaght Hospital, with more than 1,500 waiting over 12 months, while a further 2,134 were awaiting appointments at the Coombe, including more than a quarter who were waiting over a year.

Letterkenny General Hospital, which has been under the spotlight in recent days, had 1,452 on its outpatient gynaecology waiting list in October. Around half (742) of those have been waiting over a year for an appointment.

CUMH, Galway University Hospital, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise and Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar - had waiting lists of over 1,200 people awaiting outpatient gynaecology appointments in August.

In most cases, hundreds have been waiting over a year for an appointment.

Meanwhile, there were 4,446 patients on the NTPF inpatient/day case waiting list for gynaecology procedures as of last month with almost 1,250 waiting longer than a year.

The national gynaecology inpatient/day case waiting list has increased by 280 in 2020 and by more than a half in the past five years.

The number waiting more than a year to see a consultant has almost doubled this year and increased by more than 1,000 in the past five years.

CUMH boasted the highest waiting list for gynaecology procedures with 608 awaiting appointments, including around 250 waiting more than a year.