17,000 patients waiting for appointment with a gastroenterologist

Dr Brian Egan said that his team at Mayo University Hospital was seeing “much later presentations of cancer”, often in people who have waited months following a referral.

Hospital consultants are warning of a “rapid increase” in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Ireland, as the number of patients on waiting lists for treatment continues to grow.

According to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), almost 17,000 patients are currently on a waiting list to see a gastroenterologist - a more than 70% increase since 2015.

There are estimated to be around 40,000 people in Ireland living with IBD.

The IHCA says the wait times are having a serious impact on outcomes and overall quality of life for patients with IBD and other conditions.

Speaking this afternoon, Dr Brian Egan, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Acute Medical Physician at Mayo University Hospital said that even before the pandemic, issues in filling consultant posts in regional hospitals were leading to long waiting times for patients.

Pre-Covid-19, Mayo University Hospital alone had a waiting list of “about one thousand patients” in his specialty.

“The pandemic has had a major impact on gastroenterology throughout the country,” he said.

“Many of us who work in the care of patients with stomach and bowel problems and liver disease were re-allocated in the first wave of the pandemic to treat patients with Covid.

“It also resulted in an absolute stop of scheduled work, which is essential for early detection and prevention of stomach cancer, bowel cancer, and oesophageal cancer.” 

Dr Egan said that his team at Mayo University Hospital was seeing “much later presentations of cancer”, often in people who have waited months following a referral.

He said that as a small hospital, Mayo University Hospital had limited specialist resources which means that it is almost impossible to keep up with the sheer volume of patients waiting for diagnosis and care in the region, an issue likely faced by many other Irish hospitals.

Staffing shortfalls 

According to the IHCA, Ireland has the lowest number of medical specialists per 1,000 population in Europe at 1.48, 42% below the EU average of 2.54.

One in five permanent consultant posts in Ireland across all specialties are currently vacant or not filled as needed.

In gastroenterology, just 10 of the 82 (12%) approved Consultant posts were vacant, as of February 8, 2021 To cope with Ireland’s growing population, and the rising incidence of gastroenterological disease here, the IHCA says the HSE will need to hire 67 additional Consultant Gastroenterologists by 2028.

It says the severe shortage of consultants is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients.

“Without urgent Government action, our ability to provide essential care to patients with serious illnesses will decrease significantly. While Irish doctors are among the best in the world, with so many posts unfilled across so many specialties, there is a limit to what we can achieve and that shouldn’t be the case in a developed nation like Ireland,” said IHCA President, Professor Alan Irvine.

Prof Irvine said that in order to hire consultants issues of pay inequity and poor working conditions quickly needed to be addressed.

"The longer the Government fails to act, the longer waiting lists become and the worse our ability to provide rapid and effective diagnosis and treatment to patients," he said.

“Many other Western countries, including Australia and Canada, provide timely, world-leading care to patients and an efficient, empathetic, and fair place to work for doctors, and other frontline healthcare staff. We must learn from their example."