Debate contribution: Cancer Waiting Times

Debate contribution by Ms Claire Sugden on 12 May 2025.

MLA

Ms Claire Sugden

Party at the time

Independent

Date

12 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Cancer Waiting Times

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4937467

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I support the motion and the amendment. I commend the motion's sponsors, because these are the issues that the House needs to talk about. Our role as public representatives is to improve public services, and we could certainly do better in this area. The state of cancer waiting times in Northern Ireland is not only unacceptable but deeply unjust. In Women's Health Month, I want to talk about breast cancer waiting times. We have heard that fewer than one in three patients referred urgently for suspected breast cancer were seen within the 14-day target. Just over one third of patients referred with suspected cancer began treatment within 62 days. Those are not just missed targets; they are missed chances to intervene, reassure and save lives. I know what it feels like. I recently found a lump and, like many women, was red-flagged. That should have meant getting an appointment within two weeks, but I waited 12 weeks. Had I lived just a few miles away in another trust area, I would likely have been seen much sooner. That postcode lottery is as real as it is unfair.

Thankfully, my result showed that it was just benign breast tissue. However, for 12 weeks, I, like so many others, sat with uncertainty. I was as sick as a dog. Every time I showered, I felt the lump. Right now, too many people across Northern Ireland recognise that fear and that awful question hanging in the air. When I was finally seen — on a Sunday, thanks to additional clinic capacity — the service was outstanding: a one-stop shop where, if I had needed a biopsy, I would have got it that day. The staff were compassionate. The system was efficient. All of that should be the norm, not the exception. What really struck me most was the waiting room. It was packed with women of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities. Some were sitting on their own. Some were holding hands. All were waiting in silence. The weight of anxiety was palpable. That is why the debate matters: it is not just about capacity but fairness. It is about the emotional toll of delay. It is about ensuring that no woman — no patient — is left sitting for weeks or months without answers, especially when we can do better. As public servants, we can do better. I welcome the regional breast assessment list. It is a vital step towards ending that postcode-based inequality. It makes sense. Why it has not been in place before now is baffling. I welcome the £215 million that has been allocated for the waiting list work. I support the call for it to be ring-fenced and applied in a way that genuinely increases short-term capacity and long-term reform. The issue will repeat itself in 10 years if we do not do as the amendment says and have multi-year budgets. Mega-clinics, elective care centres and the new delivery unit all show promise, but they must be expanded and embedded as part of systemic change, not a pilot project that comes and goes as funding comes and goes. Let us also be honest about the need for sustained multi-year investment, not just headline announcements, because reform will succeed only if it is resourced, strategic and focused on patient outcomes. The motion asks us to step up not just as politicians but as people who are entrusted with the care of our communities. We must fix this, and we can fix it this.

583 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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