This morning, the Irish Examiner reported that up to 6,000 patients in County Waterford and the south east are in a living nightmare due to an extraordinarily long wait for their cancer test results. At the end of last year, there was a backlog of more than 6,000 potentially cancerous tissue samples waiting to be processed in the histology department of University Hospital Waterford. This number was reduced over the past two months to 5,000 as of Monday but there are still significant delays, with some patients waiting up to six months. The samples have come to the lab from hospitals across the region, including St. Luke's in Kilkenny and Tipperary hospital. There are samples that were taken at University Hospital Waterford and, indeed, samples taken on referral from GPs. I stress that these are routine or non-urgent samples, meaning the likelihood of cancer is reckoned to be low but they still originate due to a clinical concern raised by a medical professional.

I spoke to hospital management this morning, and I spoke to management at the hospital during the week. They told me that while most of these samples are taken to be examined as a precaution to rule out cancer, there is still a chance that some of them may indicate cancer. While the chance is low, they say, that is no comfort to the 5,000 patients waiting for abnormally long periods for what should be a quick, routine test. The results are needed swiftly for both patients and clinicians. People are worried sick because their results have taken this long to be returned, and they will not have comfort until they get them. Meanwhile, clinicians need these results before they can diagnose a patient's condition. They need to be able to rule cancer in or out before identifying the problem or whether there is indeed a problem.

While the backlog has been reduced to 5,000, it has been brought down over the past month only through staff working significant, and what hospital management say is unsustainable, overtime. The histology department at University Hospital Waterford has been significantly under-resourced and understaffed for some time. It does not have enough consultants, histopathologists, medical scientists or support staff. This concern has been raised time and again by hospital management, including at several meetings between Oireachtas Members and hospital management in Waterford. Management has raised its concerns directly with central HSE executives and, indeed, the CEOs of the hospital groups. The hospital has issued an emergency alert to the Minister for Health in this instance because demand is exceeding capacity, and that brings risks for patient safety. Rapid diagnosis of cancer is essential for survival, as the Taoiseach knows.

Given the scale of the backlog in the south east and the waiting times for a cancer test, the hospital has sought additional histopathologists. Two consultant posts have been approved over the past few weeks but we need a stopgap solution for the south east. That must involve the redeployment of consultants and other professionals from other regions to help on a temporary basis. Indeed, this was sought by the hospital and the CEOs of the South/Southwest Hospital Group and the Ireland East Hospital Group but no help was forthcoming. I got that directly from hospital management. It is not acceptable. Will the Taoiseach ensure additional staff are redeployed to University Hospital Waterford to clear the backlog of 5,000 cancer tests? Will he also ensure cancer services in Waterford and the south east are supported to reduce waiting times and deliver quicker results and diagnoses? Will his Government commit to reviewing the cancer strategy and cancer services to ensure they are fit for purpose and that deaths from cancer can be reduced in the years ahead?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is a matter of great concern to me and the Government that approximately 6,000 people in the south east have been waiting several months for laboratory test results. I know that causes great anxiety for patients and runs the risk of delayed diagnoses and poorer outcomes, even though the samples are based on routine tests and are not urgent. While the risk is small, and we want to reassure people of that, it is not negligible. That people should have to wait several months for the result of any test is below the standard of care that we seek to provide.

The hospital group has confirmed that corrective measures have been put in place, and the hospital has confirmed that all urgent samples have been, and continue to be, processed without delay. Corrective actions include the transfer of histopathology samples and reporting to other laboratories, additional histopathology reporting sessions by consultant pathologists in Waterford, the engagement of agency medical scientists and additional sessions by medical scientists in the hospital. Further additional resources are required, though, to meet the demand for the vital regional service. Approval for the recruitment of additional consultant histopathologists has been granted.

The hospital has received considerable increases in resources in recent years. Just in the past two years or so, the number of staff has increased by almost 20% and the hospital's budget has increased by almost 20%. There are now 2,400 full-time equivalent staff in the hospital and the hospital has a budget of €270 million. However, we acknowledge there is still a gap between demand and capacity, and that is why authorisation has been given to appoint new consultants, who are much needed.

In addition, a serious incident management team, involving both the South/Southwest Hospital Group and the Ireland East Hospital Group, has been established to ensure all available supports are provided to the hospital to manage the backlog. This does involve samples being taken to other laboratories in other hospitals where they can be reported on.

I spoke to hospital management early this morning to be assured that whatever can be done is being done. The manager I spoke to said the serious incident management team has been in place for some weeks. She also said the transfer of samples to other laboratories is not happening at the pace promised and that the hospital has directly asked the two CEOs of the hospital groups, because St. Luke's, Kilkenny, is in the Ireland East Hospital Group and University Hospital Waterford and Tipperary hospital are in the South/Southwest Hospital Group, for a histopathologist to be brought on site in Waterford as a stopgap solution to deal with this problem. She says that has not happened and that, as a consequence, the waiting times and number of samples are still unacceptably high. I have accepted that these are routine samples. Nobody wants to raise alarm but hospital management has also told me that there is a risk of cancer in some of the samples. We need to get them processed and each patient needs to be assured his or her sample will be processed as soon as possible. On the one hand, the Government must consider the issue of transfer, which is not happening at pace, and, on the other hand, the bringing of others on site to help with the backlog.

I will certainly speak to the hospital manager myself about the matter this week to get a better fix on the situation. There are many ways in which we can get on top of the backlog, one being the transfer of samples to other laboratories. I will inquire as to why that is not happening at an adequate pace. The other way is to transfer staff to the laboratory from other laboratories. Generally, it is easier to move samples than to move staff for obvious reasons. Sometimes it requires a little bit of both. As the Deputy acknowledged, the risk is low because the samples are not urgent but, as I have acknowledged, the risk is not negligible. I do not think it is up to the standard of care that we seek to provide as a Government that anyone should wait months for the result of a scan or a laboratory test and we are going to get on top of this.