Breast surgery operating lists at Mater Dei Hospital are being doubled to maintain the target date of four weeks from diagnosis, the Health Ministry has said, following concerns about “unacceptable” delays for cancer patients.
The patients have been experiencing waiting times of up to three months for urgent operations over the last few months as surgeons’ operating lists, with up to seven patients on each, were slashed by more than half, from five lists a month to two.
The “worrying” delay in potentially life-saving breast cancer surgery was flagged by support groups who say the standard time frame to start curative treatment and remove “seriously malignant tumours” was four to six weeks after diagnosis.
During the peak of the pandemic, theatre lists had reduced “drastically” due to the redeployment of specialised staff to the new COVID-19 ITUs, the ministry explained, adding that cancer cases, however, were always prioritised.
At one point, waiting lists had increased to six weeks for some breast surgery, it said, while a distraught and frustrated patient recounted to Times of Malta her ordeal of having to wait almost 10 weeks to urgently remove the cancer inside her.
“Now, we are catching up on delayed cases and rapidly returning towards normal,” the Health Ministry assured, adding that breast screening numbers have now gone back to pre-pandemic levels.
Action for Breast Cancer Foundation and Europa Donna Malta Breast Care Support Group had written to the health authorities, urging them to resolve the problem “as a matter of urgency”.
These patients were being told the reason for the delays was a lack of theatres as well as manpower, including nurses and anaesthetists.
The patient advocates were informed by the hospital authorities that the pre-COVID-19 theatre situation should be back, with added resources, by this week, barring unexpected surges of COVID patients, which would upset the plans.
With the planned return to weekly lists from yesterday, it was estimated that the backlog would get back to normal by the end of the year.
The organisations plan to reassess the situation shortly to be sure adequate cancer care was being provided to patients.