Northern Trust warns of growing delays in breast cancer referrals

A deterioration in waiting times for an urgent consultation for suspected breast cancer has been described as “almost inevitable”.

Presenting a performance report to a meeting of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust board in August, Neil Martin, divisional director of strategic planning, performance and ICT, indicated that the longest wait for an initial suspected breast cancer assessment during a recent period was seven to eight weeks in the Northern Trust.

Mr Martin told the board that the waiting list is now managed regionally for the breast assessment service in Northern Ireland and operates as a single regional waiting list. Previously, each Trust managed its own referrals.

“It is almost inevitable there is a deterioration in performance,” he added.

All urgent breast cancer referrals in Northern Ireland should be seen within 14 days.

The Department of Health’s Northern Ireland Cancer Waiting Times report, published on Thursday for the period between April 1 and June 30, revealed that at the end of June, of the 1,947 patients seen by a breast cancer specialist following an urgent referral in the Belfast, Northern and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trusts, just 129 (6.6%) were seen within 14 days of referral.

This compares to 9.7% of patients in these Trusts during the quarter ending March 2025.

A new regional breast cancer service, which manages appointments across five hospital sites, is designed to “equalise” waiting times by offering patients earlier appointments outside their local Trust area, the report said.

During the quarter ending June 2025, the median waiting time was 38 days, and 95% of patients were seen within 54 days across the Belfast, Northern and South Eastern Trusts.

The Northern Trust received the highest number of referrals of the three Trusts, with 1,499 patients referred for suspected breast cancer. Of these, 1,276 (85.1%) were classified as urgent.

Speaking at the Northern Trust board meeting, outgoing chief executive Jennifer Welsh said the Trust “very much regrets” that anyone is waiting more than 14 days for a breast assessment.

She said the overall waiting time is “too long and adds to the worry and distress the individual is already experiencing”.

Ms Welsh has since taken up the role of chief executive at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Suzanne Pullins, who has held a senior leadership role as the Northern Trust’s executive director of nursing since September 2020, has been appointed as interim chief executive.