Debate contribution: Cancer Services and Outcomes
Debate contribution by Miss Órlaithí Flynn on .
- MLA
- Miss Órlaithí Flynn
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 18 November 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Cancer Services and Outcomes
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5244908
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I also welcome the chance to speak on this important issue. As has been said, cancer impacts on every one of us, those in the Chamber and the families that we represent in our constituencies. I reiterate that cancer waiting times are not an abstract policy issue; they are sleepless nights and anxious weeks, while patients and their loved ones are left wondering whether they will live or die. Nuala talked about the silence when people are waiting and the unknown future. I am sorry to see Sinéad get upset from whatever she is going through at the moment. When we last debated the issue of cancer in the Assembly, in late May or early June, I was unable to take part in the debate because my mother was just going through a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. I get that it is personal to every one of us in one way or another. It also is for all the families and individuals whom we represent. It is a very current, raw and difficult issue to deal with and even to talk about. Thanks to the DUP for tabling the motion in the first instance. Hopefully, the amendment will get some cross-party support as well, to make some improvements. Across the North, we are simply not seeing people quickly enough, although many families are lucky enough to receive the gold-standard, life-saving care and make it through to the other side. People are grateful for that. However, Diane spoke about one of her constituents, and, sadly, we are not catching everyone. There are still people waiting outside those timelines, where their diagnosis and treatment should have started much more quickly. That might have saved their lives. The international evidence has been mentioned. Even a four-week delay in treatment can increase the risk of death by between 6% and 8%. In the breakdown of the numbers that Diane provided, every one of those figures represents someone who has lost their life who potentially might not have been in that situation. It was powerful just to listen to that breakdown. That is what we are dealing with. I will bring us back to my constituency, West Belfast. We have held meetings on something more specific: the screening for human papillomavirus (HPV) in particular and the vaccinations. All of us try to give that plug to every one of our constituents. Where vaccines are available that can help prevent cancers or pick them up earlier, please get them. It is the right thing to do. Then, hopefully, you will not be in that situation at the other end of the health service where you are requiring treatment to treat your cancer. In the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, the HPV uptake for girls sits at only 72%. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that 90% of 15-year-olds should have received that vaccination. There are ways in which we are falling behind. We could be getting more people vaccinated and screened at an earlier point, and that would mean that they were not coming into the system with the diagnosis of cancer further down the line. I will push that vaccine and promote it in West Belfast to try to get an increase in uptake. We know that the prevention stuff alone will not fix the problem. We need to put in place a series of measures. My party's amendment speaks about an all-island approach. There was discussion about that at last week's meeting of the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association here in Stormont; Linda might give us a bit of an update on that. The all-island stuff speaks for itself: if it is the right thing to do, let us do it. If it will save a life, let us do it. Philip mentioned some of the good practice in the North West Cancer Centre at Altnagelvin. If we can build on any of that, please let us do that. I know that it is not just as simple as that and that it all takes funding, collaboration and hard work, but, hopefully, following the debate on today's motion, we can move closer to that point.
691 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.80 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.05 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.05 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.04 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.03 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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