AQW 3488/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 23/09/2022
Answered On Date: 06/10/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health what work is ongoing to deliver care pathways for men living with prostate cancer.

Answer:

My Department continues to work to expand urology capacity and have recently approved the expansion of two new regional Transperineal biopsy lists and four flexible cystoscopy lists. This additional capacity will be used to help manage those red flag urology patients requiring diagnoses and treatment and this approach will benefit those patients requiring prostate cancer treatment.

In addition, funding has recently been announced to allow the development of four regional day surgery lists on the Omagh site. This capacity will allow additional TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate) and TURBT (trans urethral resection of bladder tumour) procedures, a part of the bladder cancer pathway, to be undertaken to support the equalisation of waits.

Health and Social Care Trusts across NI provide a holistic needs assessment for all men requiring prostate cancer treatment at their first review and during the whole treatment pathway from investigation, diagnosis and follow up.

Nurse led prostate cancer review clinics have been established in the Health and Social Care Trusts that provide prostate cancer care (from 2018 the Western Trust provided prostate care service to NHSCT patients), with prostate cancer patients assigned a key worker or clinical nurse specialist. Nurse led clinics review prostate cancer patients undergoing active surveillance, watchful waiting, androgen deprivation and following radiotherapy, brachytherapy and robotic prostatectomy.