More than 2,700 individuals across Ireland faced delays beyond the advised timeline for receiving an urgent colonoscopy between January and May of this year, according to data acquired by RTÉ News, reports RTE.
The Irish Cancer Society has warned that these delays are endangering patients’ lives.
Patients experiencing symptoms such as unexplained weight loss or the presence of blood in their stool require urgent colonoscopies, reports RTE.
According to HSE protocol, these patients should undergo the procedure within 28 days.
Despite this, records show that 2,764 patients waited between 29 and 60 days for an urgent colonoscopy during the first five months of 2024, reports RTE.
Altogether, 3,623 people experienced delays beyond the 28-day benchmark this year.
Dr. Finbar MacCarthy, a Consultant Gastroenterologist at St James’s Hospital in Dublin, emphasized that patients needing urgent colonoscopies should be seen within the outlined timeframe, reports RTE.
He acknowledged that only a small number will ultimately be diagnosed with cancer or inflammatory bowel conditions, but stressed that “out of that group of people, there are undoubtedly patients who already have cancers or who already have another bowel disease that requires prompt diagnosis and prompt access to treatment.”
Dr. MacCarthy highlighted the need for hospitals to boost their capacity to match the growing demand for colonoscopies, reports RTE.
“Without an increase in capacity to meet the demand there will inevitably be increasing waiting lists for colonoscopies,” reports RTE.
“In addition, there are hospitals across the country where the endoscopy unit is significantly curtailed over the winter months in order to facilitate access through the emergency department. This is not a strategy that is tenable in the long term,” reports RTE.
The Irish Cancer Society has called the statistics “extremely worrying”.
Its CEO, Averil Power, commented: “In 2017, no one in Ireland waited more than the 28 day target for an urgent colonoscopy, yet this year if the current trend continues, over 6,500 people will, reports RTE.
“That’s a shocking deterioration in service and it’s putting lives at risk. The Irish Cancer Society is calling on Government to stop these delays now, by providing urgent investment in colonoscopy services nationwide,” reports RTE.
The HSE, in a statement, said it has introduced various measures to reduce waiting times, including growing the use of capsule endoscopy services.
Paul Vickers from Rathcoole, Dublin, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2017.
Even with persistent symptoms like constant pain, Paul had to wait more than three months for an urgent colonoscopy, reports RTE.
He said: “I was having symptoms and like a lot of men my age I was ignoring them, there was blood on the toilet tissue from around October 2016. My symptoms got that bad I actually collapsed in early February 2017 in the house. I went over to Tallaght A&E and the doctor there that saw me gave me pain killers and Buscopan and told me to go to my own GP for a referral for a colonoscopy,” reports RTE.
By May 2017, nearly three months later, Paul finally had his colonoscopy appointment, but he recalled that the signs were increasingly alarming in the weeks leading up to it.
“If I wasn’t on pain killers, sitting down going to the toilet would have been so painful I couldn’t actually stand it,” reports RTE.
“I would get a huge amount of wind cramps. I was working nights and that in itself was tiring, but dealing with all the stress as well was wearing me out. I actually lost quite a bit of weight during that time,” reports RTE.
Paul believes that an earlier appointment for the colonoscopy might have led to a quicker recovery and urges anyone with similar symptoms to visit their GP without delay.
“In saying that, had I gone in when I got my first symptoms I may not have been diagnosed with cancer, at least not Stage 4 anyway,” reports RTE.
By the time Paul underwent the urgent procedure, his condition had worsened so much he had to be treated as a medical emergency.
“My colon and large bowel were in such a state that they didn’t let me home. They kept me in that day and two days later I got an ostomy bag in to shut my entire large bowel, digestive system down,” reports RTE.
“It was actually that bad I became an emergency then. I spent that summer on chemo and radiation therapy,” reports RTE.
Now recovered, Paul is optimistic about the road ahead.
“It took me three years to recover from everything, the radiation was quite severe, I was on a lot of radiation five days a week for six weeks and that has left a lot of damage to my large intestine but I have to manage that,” reports RTE.
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