The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been urged to provide cancer patients in Galway with radiation therapy at weekends and public holidays – to avoid delaying life-saving treatment.

Figures supplied by the HSE to Aontú reveal that Galway University Hospital was missing targets set for timely access to radiation therapy treatment.

The primary national radiation therapy Key Performance Indicator (KPI) focuses on the start date cancer patients access treatment.

According to the Department of Health, KPI aims for 90% of patients undergoing radical treatment for primary cancer to commence treatment within 15 working days of being deemed ready to treat by their radiation oncologist.

The HSE has confirmed, in a parliamentary reply, that GUH has met or exceeded that 90% target just one month in the 12 months to August 2024 – the most recent available data.

It confirmed there was a total of 840 patients undergoing radiation therapy at GUH and 81% of them had commenced that treatment within 15 working days of being deemed ready for it.

That means roughly 155 patients had their treatment delayed, and about half of them unnecessarily so, according to the national KPI best practice.

In the 12 months to August, GUH exceeded its KPI target in February (93%), but it was below 90% in all other months since September 2023, with KPIs ranging from 74.1% last December, to 86.7% in April.

The HSE’s Assistant National Director, Fiona Bonas, explained that the KPI was considered “operationally within target” even if it misses the 90% target by 5%.

Even allowing for the additional 5%, the figures show GUH had missed the lower 85% threshold target and was operationally outside the target, in nine out of the 12 months for which figures were provided.

Despite the issues, GUH had better KPI performances that the other two hospitals with radiation therapy, St Luke’s in Dublin and Cork University Hospital, according to the HSE.

Galway East general election candidate for Aontú, Luke Silke, whose party leader Peadar Tóibín submitted the PQ, said he was concerned by the National Cancer Control Programme stats.

“While there may be a multitude of reasons why a patient is not receiving treatment within 15 working days of being deemed fit for treatment, staffing and organisational issues may be at play here,” Mr Silke said.

He said the target of 90% gave 10% leeway for people who may fall ill before their treatment starts. But Mr Silke said repeated missing of targets was “alarming”.

“While obviously we don’t have a cure for cancer yet, I think as a country we could do a lot better in terms of survival rates. Survival rates for breast cancer are higher in Britain and Sweden than here. We also know that we have a shocking differential in survival rates between those diagnosed in a public hospital versus a private hospital.

Pictured: UHG: Call for radiation therapy seven days a week.