Waterford Hospital using retired doctors to help clear cancer test backlog

Consultant histopathologist at University Hospital Waterford, Professor Rob Landers, said: “I would say it will take two months at a minimum to get the turnaround times to within an acceptable limit. File picture: Denis Minihane

The Irish Cancer Society has warned that delays in diagnosis could put patients' lives at risk as University Hospital Waterford is forced to use retired doctors to help tackle a major laboratory backlog.

The Irish Examiner revealed this week that up to 6,000 patients across the southeast are being forced to wait several months for cancer test results.

ICS director of advocacy Rachel Morrogh warned: “Delays to tests that detect cancer jeopardise giving people the best chance to survive and have a good quality of life after a cancer diagnosis.” 

The South/SouthWest Hospital Group has said urgent cases are treated quickly.  However, Ms Morrogh stressed: “Even if someone is not classified as urgent, there is still a possibility that their symptoms are caused by cancer and that is why timely access to diagnostics is so critical.” 

She said the overall service is “over-burdened and under-resourced” with huge pressures on medical workforces.

“The Irish Cancer Society is once again calling for sustainable, long-term solutions that deal with the country’s waiting lists,” she said. “Until that happens, the public system will be unable to guarantee all patients in Ireland with swift access to the tests and treatment they need.

Consultant histopathologist at University Hospital Waterford, Professor Rob Landers, said: “I would say it will take two months at a minimum to get the turnaround times to within an acceptable limit. We are putting in lots of additional hours, we are bringing back some retired pathologists to help us and we are getting some help from other public hospitals in the State.” 

It is a huge amount of extra hours, it’s not really sustainable. But in the short-term that’s all we can do, and depending on retired people really is no way to be running a health service.

Prof. Landers, also president of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, said: “It’s a post-Covid surge in activity, and basically it is demand outstripping supply. The laboratory here is probably the most under-resourced one in the country.” 

He estimated double the number of histopathologists are needed, as well as of medical scientists.

“In some ways I am relieved that the problem has been highlighted, it highlights the deficits in the laboratory in Waterford and we look forward to them being addressed,” he said.

However, he also stressed urgent samples are always prioritised: "The likelihood of unexpected findings is very low, but if the (patient’s) doctor thinks it is urgent please contact us and if it isn’t already prioritised, we will prioritise it." 

Overworked medical scientists locally are “gutted” at this backlog, Medical Laboratory Scientists Association general secretary Terry Casey said.

“We have been saying there is a problem in histology since 2017, and broadly have been ignored,” he said. “Only in the last 18 months have they (HSE) started to realise there is a problem. I can’t believe something like this hasn’t happened sooner.” 

The HSE has established a Serious Incident Management Team.