HSE admits incorrect communication released about Rapid Access Prostate Clinic

The HSE has admitted that incorrect information was released about the Rapid Access Prostate Clinic at University Hospital Galway, where new referrals were halted for several weeks without GPs being told.

It's emerged that there was an unauthorised suspension of new referrals to the clinic throughout December and January.

As a result, no official notice was issued to GPs, and senior management only became fully aware of the situation after further internal review.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the HSE stated that the service remained open. This was in response to concerns raised locally by Councillor Declan Meehan over GP referrals not being accepted.

“My belief is that the statement attempted to outline a ‘nothing to see here’ approach to the concerns I had been raising," Councillor Meehan told a meeting of the Regional Health Forum West.

Cllr Meehan also raised concerns about the impact on patients, noting that the rapid access pathway is time-sensitive for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“It means people were trying to refer patients into a service that was closed, but they weren’t officially told it was closed. For December and January, no one was seen within the target time of 20 working days. And this is a time sensitive referral pathway for cancer treatment. 


"Ultimately, that comes down to patients and their care being delayed," he said.

The HSE reports that, in 2025, over 72% of new patients attending the clinic were seen within 20 working days, in line with the National Cancer Control Programme’s key performance indicator.

Cllr Meehan pointed out that the figures show nearly 30% of patients are not being seen in the recommended timeframe, and queried what plan is in place to speed up access.

Cllr Meehan expressed serious concern that HSE management weren’t aware of an unauthorised closure of new referrals.

HSE representatives apologised for the incorrect statement and said the situation has since been addressed, with referrals now reinstated.

The reason for the suspension, they said, was due to pressures in the service primarily linked to theatre access.

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Ann Cosgrove, Integrated Healthcare Area Manager for Galway and Roscommon, said that January's statement on the service being open turned out to be factually incorrect: "Our apologies if there was a miscommunication in the first instance. The statement would have been issued on the 19th of January in good faith, because we'd believed that the service was still taking new referrals until we actually linked more closely with the actual service and looked at the constitution of it."

Ms Cosgrove stated that the clinic is continuing to work on improving timely access to care within KPI timeframes.

"It's the busiest clinic in the country in terms of the referrals it takes, and the clinicians that are delivering that service work very hard."

Ms Cosgrove gave assurance that the communication issue "won't recur again and it shouldn't have occurred in the first instance."