Cancer Services

95. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Health the factors contributing to urgent referrals to symptomatic breast disease clinics exceeding the ten working day target set out in the national cancer strategy; and the steps being taken to ensure timely assessment of patients. [72874/26]

The national cancer strategy sets a target of ten working days for urgent referrals to symptomatic breast disease clinics. The target exists for a very important reason. When somebody discovers concerning symptoms they need to be assessed as soon as possible. I am informed that last year, 3,388 women had to wait for longer than the ten working day target. I acknowledge the tremendous work being done by the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals working in our breast clinics. However, when urgent referrals exceed the ten working day target we need to understand why. Why are we seeing cases exceed this target and what is being done to bring the waiting times back to within the target?

I thank the Deputy. The target for symptomatic breast disease clinics is that 95% of urgent referrals are offered an appointment within ten working days. In 2025, the national performance was 61.3%. The national year to date performance in 2026 now stands at 78%, and while this represents improvement, I recognise, and the Deputy is correct to articulate it, that this falls short of the standard patients should expect. Performance varies across hospitals and regions. Clinics based in St. James's, St. Vincent's, Waterford and Limerick have consistently exceeded the target and stand between 97% to almost 100% for 2026 year to date, which is good. On the other hand, other clinics based in Letterkenny, Cork, the Mater, Beaumont and UH Galway are below target in 2026. However, both Cork and Beaumont, in particular, have made considerable, consistent improvements within recent months, with Beaumont reaching 100% for August, which is the latest figure available, so it does vary both in regions, hospitals and over time. The HSE advises that principal pressures giving rise to underperformance against key performance indicators, KPIs, in different areas are diagnostic access and, in some locations, limitations in infrastructure and clinic capacity and staffing deployment. Those clinics generally operate at full capacity, so any interruption or increase in demand or even a temporary staff shortfall that is then being filled can create a backlog that takes time to clear. Patients continue to be prioritised according to their clinical need. Hospitals experiencing delays can implement local improvement plans, provide additional clinics, outsource diagnostic activity where appropriate, and review patient pathways to improve efficiency. The HSE's national cancer control programme monitors performance against all of the different sites and we engage with it. I recently met the new chair to discuss this specific point and try to make sure that every area is working at the same pace and with the same measure of service to its patients.

The target needs to be ten working days. Patients should be able to rely on the service. Early assessment matters enormously, both for identifying cancers promptly and providing psychological reassurance to patients whose symptoms turn out not to be cancer-related. Can the Minister advise the House on how additional funding provided under budget 2027 will help to reduce the waiting time for symptomatic breast disease clinics?

I thank the Deputy. I completely agree with him. I am pleased to see the improvement in Cork and Beaumont and the consistently good work in the other clinics. There cannot be a postcode lottery. It cannot be the case that people have different expectations. As I said, while there has been progress from 61% in 2025 to 78% in 2026, we have additional funding into next year. It is a priority for the cancer control programme and the different regions to make sure they reach this important ten-day target. That is what we must do next year.

I thank the Minister for the reply.