Galway hospital apologises for the ‘distress’ it caused cancer patients

Cancer patients at University Hospital Galway have recently been experiencing significant delays in their treatment.

Earlier this week, for example, a 64-year-old man spoke to Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One; he told the station that he has bowel cancer and that he has been struggling to get chemotherapy in Galway. And last month, John Moran waited on an A&E trolley for more than 30 hours for chemo treatment... because there were no beds available in the cancer ward. Now UHG management has apologised. In a statement to RTÉ News it said it deeply regret the "distress and upset" that it causes patients and their families. It added that "every effort to ensure cancer patients are prioritised and have two dedicated cancer wards in UHG" is made, continuing: "These wards have been particularly busy over the last number of days." The statement furthermore explained: "There has been an increase in number of emergency cancer patients admitted and unfortunately this has had an impact on some elective cancer patients' appointments as we have had to clinically prioritise some patients. "We deeply regret the distress and upset that this causes patients and their families." All departments at University Hospital Galway are currently extremely busy: this week around 200 patients a day have presented themselves at A&E. And RTÉ also reports that throughout Ireland, more than 500 people were on trolleys or wards on Tuesday waiting for admission to a hospital bed.