Wide variations in delivery of cancer treatment - data

The HSE has released data revealing significant disparities in the delivery of cancer treatment across the country. The data, obtained through a parliamentary question by Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane, covers the first half of 2025 and includes information on systemic anti-cancer therapy, radiation oncology, and surgery times for specific tumours.

According to the data, too many cancer patients are experiencing delays beyond the recommended treatment standard times. Radiotherapy figures are of particular concern, with 90% of new patients for radical radiotherapy expected to receive treatment within 15 working days. However, in the first half of 2025, 732 patients were outside this key performance indicator, up from 658 patients in the same period last year.

St Luke's Radiation Oncology Network is noted for persistently operating at around 65% compliance. In contrast, improvements have been observed in systemic anti-cancer therapy, with national figures for the first half of 2025 showing better results compared to the same period last year.

For prostate cancer surgery, which is typically recommended within 30 working days, only 38% of patients received surgery on time in 2025. Compliance varied among hospitals, with Galway at 18%, the Mater at 30.8%, St Vincent's at 37%, and Cork exceeding 42.9%.

Lung cancer surgery also showed mixed results, with St James's Hospital at 45.9% compliance for the first quarter of 2025, down from 60% in the same period of the previous year. The Mater Hospital showed significant improvement, reaching over 76% compliance for the first quarter of 2025, up from 37.5% in the same period last year.

Breast cancer surgery has a key performance indicator of 90% compliance within 20 working days. Nationally, 77 cases were outside this target for the first quarter of 2025, a decrease from 88 cases in the same period last year.