{"id":500431,"date":"2026-06-15T08:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T08:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/500431\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T08:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T08:28:16","slug":"over-1400-patients-waiting-more-than-a-month-for-cancer-diagnostic-tests-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/500431\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 1,400 patients waiting more than a month for cancer diagnostic tests \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1,400 patients<\/a> in Northern Ireland are waiting longer than a month for diagnostic tests related to suspected cancer<\/a>, new figures have revealed.<\/p>\n

Figures from the Department of Health show that 1,452 patients were actively waiting more than 28 days for a cancer diagnostic test as of 31 March 2026.<\/p>\n

The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust recorded the highest number, with 636 patients waiting beyond the 28-day threshold. <\/p>\n

The Northern Trust had 273 patients waiting at the end of March.<\/p>\n

\"Belfast<\/a>\"Live:<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Southern Trust (293), Belfast Trust (162), and Western Trust (88) all had substantial numbers waiting for diagnostic tests.<\/p>\n

The figures cover imaging tests and gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures carried out as part of suspected cancer pathways.<\/p>\n

The figures emerged following an Assembly Question by SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat nearly 1,500 people were waiting longer than 28 days for diagnostic tests related to suspected cancer at the end of March shows the continuing crisis within our health service. Behind every one of those cases is an anxious patient and their family, worried about what the future might hold,\u201d he told The Irish News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people with suspected cancer who are waiting beyond the timeframe that the health service itself considers acceptable. That alone demands a response. While there has been some modest progress in tackling waiting lists, it is clear that it has been nowhere near enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minister has highlighted investment in tackling waiting lists, but these figures show there is still a long way to go. Reducing these waiting times must remain a priority and patients deserve better than the uncertainty they are currently facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Health said \u00a313 million is being invested in endoscopy services and a further \u00a312 million in diagnostic imaging as part of the Elective Care Framework, funding it said would deliver approximately 16,500 endoscopy procedures and 7,800 imaging sessions per year when fully implemented.<\/p>\n

It comes after figures published earlier this year showed just 5.5% of patients given an urgent breast cancer referral were seen within the 14-day target.<\/p>\n

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister accused health minister Mike Nesbitt of \u201cpatting himself on the back\u201d over \u201cmarginal\u201d improvements in the north\u2019s health service at the time.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health has been contacted for further comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1,400 patients in Northern Ireland are waiting longer than a month for diagnostic tests related to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[258,103,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-500431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}