Irish Cancer Society / ICGP Report

Irish Hospitals Consultants Association comment on

Irish Cancer Society / ICGP Report

28th April 2016: Commenting on the recently published Irish Cancer Society / ICGP report, Dr Gerard Crotty, President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association said hospital consultants are extremely concerned at the potential adverse consequences for patients arising from delays in accessing timely diagnostics. He said: “There are gaping capacity constraints in our acute hospitals due to a severe shortage of consultant radiologists and inadequate radiographer staffing levels. Assessment of the country's diagnostic needs and international comparisons confirm that we have approximately half the number of consultant radiologists required on a population basis.”

Dr Crotty called on the next government to properly resource our acute hospitals so they can employ essential staff and address the acknowledged capacity problems. This, he said, is critically important to prevent not only diagnostic delays but also the unacceptable treatment delays being experienced by acutely-ill patients.

ENDS

For more information:

James Dunny, FleishmanHillard +353 1 6188 417 / + 353 86 255 0487

Fiona Murphy, FleishmanHillard + 353 1 6188 470 / +353 87 819 4464