Calls to resolve 'unacceptable' delay as 46,000 patients wait more than 18 months for scans

While relieved to be cancer-free after treatment for Stage IV melanoma, UCAN Ireland advocate Miriam Staunton said: 'The anxiety is not to be underestimated' when waiting for a scan or results. File picture

More than 46,000 people have waited longer than 18 months for vital scans, which could include diagnoses of cancer or heart disease, unpublished data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) shows.

Calls have been made for these “unacceptable” delays to be addressed with investment in machinery and staffing.

One cancer survivor said: “Every extra day matters. It’s hard to articulate how anxious waiting can make you, it’s unbearable. You’re thinking this is growing all the time, it’s inside me and it’s growing.”

Overall, some 299,736 people were waiting for CT, MRIs, or ultrasounds, data gathered for an ongoing pilot project on waiting lists from April to June 2025 shows.

The longest waiters, some 46,551, make up the smallest group, while the largest group of 242,010 people were waiting up to 12 months.

The report states it is not for active management of lists and is an “overview” of numbers.

These early findings indicate new HSE regions face varying pressures in the run-up to the first budget allocations by region.

The documents were released to Sinn Féin health spokesman, Waterford TD David Cullinane. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

In Cork and Kerry, some 1,474 patients waited longer than 18 months. This stands at 9,980 for HSE Dublin and Southeast, including south Tipperary and Waterford.

For HSE Midwest, this group is 7,762 people. The other regions also have large numbers.

Miriam Staunton said she is relieved to be cancer-free after treatment for Stage IV melanoma.

An advocate with United Cancer Advocates Network Ireland, she said that, as a patient: 

You are waiting for scans, waiting for results, the anxiety is not to be underestimated.

“We would always say to people ‘chase appointments, chase results’ because the system is working at capacity and we don’t have electronic records, so stuff can get lost.”

Irish Cancer Society director of advocacy and communications Steve Dempsey said the unmet need for scans is too high.

He said: “In the first six months of 2025, seven in 10 people were waiting more than three months for an MRI, and six in 10 were waiting more than three months for a CT scan. This is unacceptable.”

'Four-week treatment delay can increase mortality by 10%' 

He pointed to UK research showing every four-week delay in starting cancer treatment can increase mortality by 10%.

The data shows 1,530 children waiting longer than 18 months. However, Amy Nolan, Irish Cancer Society director of clinical affairs, said it is not aware of delays for childhood cancer scans.

Separate HSE data on diagnostic machinery shows some operating beyond ‘end of life’ when suppliers stop their support.

Hospitals reported six machines with a 2020 date and a group of 20 machines marked 2018 to 2020 among others.

Some 12 hospitals reported staff shortages, including one outsourcing CT scan reporting as a result. One can only run its CT scanners together one day a week.

Mr Dempsey called for investment in equipment and staffing, adding:  

Ireland has fewer machines per one million people than the EU average for MRI and CT.

Both documents were released to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane.

Irish Cancer Society director of clinical affairs Amy Nolan. File picture: Andres Poveda

He described waiting lists as “shocking”, saying: 

“It shows just how badly this Government is failing to deliver timely access to basic healthcare,” Mr Cullinane said. 

“Behind every statistic is a person, someone who is worried about their health, waiting in pain or uncertainty for answers that should have come months ago.

These are extraordinary numbers, and they show how widespread this crisis has become. 

He called for a national plan, urging “more scanners, longer opening hours, and more radiographers and radiologists to run them”.

“The technology is no good if we don’t have the people to deliver the service,” he said.

The Department of Health said diagnostics are a priority within the national development plan. The health allocation for 2026 to 2030 is €9.25bn.

A spokesman said this NTPF data continues to be tested and validated. The fund has worked on waiting lists since last year to offer “safe, timely, fair and equitable” access to scans.

The HSE has “ambitious targets for increasing activity and reducing waiting times”. Budget details will be in its service plan for 2026.

Access to scans will be prioritised, a spokeswoman said.

The equipment replacement programme offers rolling multi-year capital funding to replace “ageing, unreliable medical equipment” especially hi-tech equipment. Increased funding saw spending reach €268m between 2022 and last year.