A number of routine programmes including breast and cervical cancer screening have been temporarily halted to allow staff and resources to be directed to tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
Urgent screenings will still be carried out.
Health Minister Robin Swann has made the announcement.
He said Covid-19 is the most serious public health emergency that Northern Ireland has ever experienced.
“Pausing these programmes was not an easy decision. I know the importance of screening, but this decision will allow reallocation of precious resources to our frontline staff as they undertake the massive task ahead of them.
“In addition it must be remembered that many people who attend screening programmes are in a higher-risk category for coronavirus and it is essential that we minimise risk to those people through maintaining social distancing at this time,” he said,
The move follows the announcement of plans to suspend non-urgent outpatient appointments and non-urgent surgical admissions.
Programmes affected are:
- routine cervical cancer screening,
- routine breast cancer screening,
- bowel cancer screening,
- abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening and surveillance monitoring, and
- routine diabetic eye screening and surveillance monitoring.
Screening will continue to be offered for people who require:-
- higher risk breast screening,
- diabetic eye screening for pregnant women,
- newborn bloodspot screening,
- newborn hearing screening, (this programme will be focused on completing screening prior to discharge from maternity units only)
- antenatal infections screening and
- Smear tests for non-routine cervical screening (e.g. repeat tests requested by colposcopy or the laboratory)
Minister Swann said this is a temporary suspension.
“In the meantime I would urge anyone who may have symptoms of some of the conditions that we screen for, to contact their GP.
“All best efforts will be made to contact patients who have received a timed appointment to let them know that the clinic will have to be postponed. I thank you for your patience and understanding at this difficult time,” he added.