Woman tells Manx Radio it may take eight weeks for her to be seen after 'urgent' referral
A patient has accused Manx Care of 'not being honest' with regards to the impact of disruption to the Island's breast clinic services.
It's as a locum Breast Radiologist began an 'unplanned, short-term absence' on 31 March which is expected to last four weeks.
The healthcare body has described the role as 'vital' to the wider breast care team, and says its service is 'severely impacted by this staffing disruption'.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Claire Christian revealed in the House of Keys that around 30 patients have been impacted as a result, so far.
Both Ms Christian and Manx Care have stated that 'every individual who is affected by this disruption has been contacted and notified'.
However, this patient - who has asked to remain anonymous - told Manx Radio she's been given no clarity over the future of her treatment:
Please note: Above audio has been edited to protect the patient's identity.
Our anonymous patient is awaiting tests to confirm whether or not she has breast cancer.
"The unknown is killing me" - Anonymous patient
She's described her situation as 'disgraceful', telling us she has been losing weight from the stress, and has been unable to tell her children anything through fear of 'panicking' them.
She said: "Sitting here like this is messing with people's lives. It's messing with their families. It's the unknown - it can't carry on like this, it needs sorting."
TIMELINE
Our anonymous patient found a lump about three months ago which never went away.
Upon visiting her GP around three weeks ago; she was given an urgent referral to the breast clinic.
She told us that upon contacting the breast clinic, she was told even with an urgent referral, it would take between five and seven weeks to be seen.
Her first scheduled appointment was cancelled due to the illness of the locum Breast Radiologist.
She says her projected timeline for a possible appointment now takes her to the seven/eight-week mark since her urgent referral.
Generally, on the Isle of Man - as of 7 April - the average waiting time for the first outpatient appointment was just over four weeks, or 29 days.
That's outside the 'Faster Diagnostic Standard' set by NHS England which states nobody should wait more than 28 days from the point of referral to finding out whether you have cancer or not.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Our anonymous patient praised the staff in the Manx breast clinic; but told us she has looked into other paths of treatment.
She told us she would 'happily' go over to the UK to be checked - and that she has asked the question - but says that option has been refused by Manx Care due to the number of women on the list.
She says that stance is 'not acceptable' and should be reconsidered, proposing that a 'couple of women' with urgent referrals should go over per day 'to try and clear the backlog' so they can be seen within the target.
She said: "This isn't a short interim problem. This isn't something that is going to go away, and the only reason noise is being made is because I have spoken to an MHK, I have spoken to Claire Christian.
"And yes, she's chased it, and yes, noise is now being made, but it's not good enough. We shouldn't be made to wait five to six weeks to find out if we have or haven't [got cancer].
"If they cannot perform a basic check to find out whether you have cancer or not, send us to the UK. Send us to a UK hospital.
"And Manx Care are not being honest - they're telling us that we've all been contacted. No, we haven't."
Our anonymous patient has also looked into private healthcare.
She says if she were to go private, she would face a bill of over £2,000 for a consultation, an ultrasound, and (if needed) a biopsy, something she says is 'a lot of money to spend on a basic need that I should be getting on the Isle of Man'.
Manx Care has been contacted for comment on the content of this report.
WEEKLY UPDATE
It's weekly update (from Wednesday 9 April) in full reads: "As stated last week, the Manx Breast Clinic is unfortunately experiencing some unexpected disruption. We committed to giving a weekly update following the temporary cover put in place for last week.
"We had anticipated that we would have our Breast Radiologist in place at this time, but due to an emergency short-term absence, we will not have this important member of the team in place for at least the next three weeks. As Breast Radiologists play a vital role alongside other members of the Breast Team, our service is severely impacted by this staffing disruption.
"We are holding extra clinics where we can, securing locum Breast Radiologists where possible, but systems will not be running as smoothly as we had originally hoped over the coming weeks.
"We held two extra clinics last week, to cover those whose appointments were due to take place earlier in the week. This week, we have three extra clinics in place for our patients, and we are working to get two extra clinics in place for next week.
"There is already a significant shortage of available Breast Radiologists within the UK. We are very isolated on the Island, which is quite different to the inter-connected environment of the UK, which makes it even harder for us to recruit someone suitable at short notice. However, we are committed to finding a sustainable solution.
"It should be noted that every individual who is affected by this disruption has been contacted and notified.
"We understand that this may be distressing, but would like to reassure our community that we are working hard to find both short-term and long-term solutions, and are keeping in regular contact with our patients.
"If you feel you may have a breast problem at this time, please contact your GP.
"For further queries, or if you need more information/symptom advice, please contact the Breast Care Nurse on 01624 650194, or MCALS on 01624 642642."
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