New €8m Bantry endoscopy unit opens as CUH expands BowelScreen services
Mike Brady, Midleton, Cork, who had bowel cancer detected through BowelScreen services in CUH, and his wife, Dorothy, show health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill the BowelScreen home test kit at the launch of CUH BowelScreen endoscopy services. Picture: Brian Lougheed
Patients across Cork and Kerry can now access an €8m endoscopy unit at Bantry General Hospital while Cork University Hospital (CUH) has formally launched its expanded BowelScreen services.
One man pointed to his scheduled screening as the only reason his cancer was discovered early.
Mike Brady, 67, from Midleton said he had no visible symptoms at the time.
“I’m fit, I eat a well-balanced diet, high in fibre, I love to walk. I keep up with all my health tests,” he said.
“I would've been confident that I would have a normal screening test result. I had no symptoms.
“I cannot get over how fast it went for me from the day I had from the colonoscopy on 11 July, 2025, to surgery on August 18,” he said.
“I put that down to everything being in the one place through BowelScreen. I know that it sounds a bit of a cliché, but I’ve been so lucky.”
After surgery he did not need chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
He urged everyone eligible to get screened, saying: “Doing the test is like sticking a cotton bud in your poo, putting it into a little container and posting it away. It's as simple as that.”
The new unit in Bantry will see the hospital double its endoscopy activity. It is already open to patients offering scans and therapies.
Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill opened the state-of-the-art unit on Friday.
“The unit will be integral to tackling endoscopy waiting lists across the HSE South West region,” she said.
In addition, HSE regional executive officer for Cork and Kerry Dr Andy Philips said extra staff are being recruited for the services.
“Our communities are going to increase by 10-15% over the next 20 years,” he said.
“And there is very significant growth in demand so this is a vital facility to contribute to providing access within the Sláintecare requirements.”
Meanwhile, CUH has expanded its BowelScreen programme.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said this comes weeks after the lower age limit for screening was dropped to 58.
“This means an additional 60,000 people invited for screening across the country,” she said.
“These are important steps as the HSE works to increase capacity to offer screening to everyone aged 55 to 74.”
CUH acting chief executive Deirdre O’Keeffe said it has offered other BowelScreen services since 2012.
She explained: “For many patients this development will mean continuity of care, as they will have testing, diagnosis, and treatment all under one roof.”
BowelScreen clinical director Professor Pádraic Mac Mathuna explained the benefits of screening.
“We prevent cancers from developing by finding and removing small growths, called adenomas, which we often find during colonoscopies,” he said.
“These can turn into cancer if left untreated. Every year around 3,000 people have these growths removed because they did our BowelScreen test.”
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