Almost one in four women who require an “urgent” appointment at a breast cancer clinic are not seen within the target time frame, new figures show.
On Wednesday, the Irish Cancer Society published new data showing delays in access to testing and treatment of cancer in the State.
The urgent symptomatic breast disease clinics aim to see 95 per cent of patients within 10 working days. However, between March 2024 and February 2025, only 76.3 per cent of patients received their appointment within this recommended time frame.
There was also significant variation between hospitals. The lowest compliance was found at the Mater hospital in Dublin, with just 28.9 per cent of patients seen in this time, followed by St James’s Hospital at 54.5 per cent and Letterkenny University Hospital, Co Donegal, at 59.8 per cent.
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Some hospitals had very high compliance, with University Hospital Waterford seeing 100 per cent of patients within the target time frame, followed by Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, at 99.7 per cent, and University Hospital Limerick at 97.7 per cent.
According to the data, the longest waiting time in the 11 months up to February 2025 was found in the Mater hospital, where one patient waited for 169 days.
A spokeswoman for the Mater hospital said its mammography service is facing “significant capacity constraints due to high demand and a lack of funding”.
“The hospital has submitted a comprehensive business case requesting additional staffing and resources to support the demands on the service and to reduce any delays, including in surveillance mammography,” the spokeswoman said.
The Irish Cancer Society data also provided insights into Rapid Access Prostate Clinics, which have a target time frame of seeing 90 per cent of patients within 20 working days.
Nationally, between March 2024 and February 2025, only 74.2 per cent of patients received their appointment within this recommended time frame.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men. If it is diagnosed at stage one, almost all men will survive. If diagnosed at stage four, only half survive.
The lowest target time frame compliance was found at Galway University Hospital where 12.7 per cent of patients received their appointment within the time frame, followed by St Vincent’s hospital at 74.4 per cent and Cork University Hospital at 82.8 per cent.
The highest compliance was found at Beaumont Hospital (100 per cent), followed by the Mater hospital (99.4 per cent) and St James’s Hospital (95.9 per cent).
Timely access to the Rapid Access Lung Clinic was better, with 93.7 per cent of patients accessing their first appointment within the target time of 10 working days.
Averil Power, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, said early treatment “dramatically reduces your risk of dying from cancer”. The figures highlight “alarming failures” to meet the targets in many cancer centres due to shortages of “staff, physical space and equipment”.
She added that the society increasingly hears that, while appointments are being provided within the timeline, in some cases all diagnostic testing is not conducted that day, meaning there can be delays to diagnosis.
[ Irish Cancer Society calls for breast cancer screening to be lowered to 45Opens in new window ]
Dr Michael McCarthy, president of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology, and consultant medical oncologist at University Hospital Galway, said he sees the “human cost of the postcode lottery in Irish cancer care every day”.
“Once chemotherapy is prescribed, the National Cancer Strategy states that it should start within 15 working days. The reality in Galway is that patients are now typically waiting seven to eight weeks for their first session,” he said.
“With every week that passes, the risk increases that their cancer will grow, or worse that it will spread to other parts of their body.”
A HSE spokeswoman said cancer survival is improving.
Rising referrals and increasing complexity of care “are placing significant demand on existing services, as evidenced by performance data of some cancer services”.
She said €20 million has been allocated for new cancer services in 2025 and 2026.
