Thousands have signed petitions against plans to end breast cancer assessments at Belfast City and Craigavon hospitals.
The Department of Health launched a public consultation on proposals to cut existing services to three from 2020, in March.
All five Trusts currently providing examinations, mammogram or ultrasounds and biopsies to those referred over breast cancer fears, are failing their targets on urgent cases with health chiefs saying it will get worse if they don’t act.
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But many have hit out at the decision to put Craigavon and Belfast City’s busy assessment centres on the chopping block in a shake-up intended to reduce waiting times.
Terminal breast cancer sufferer Catherine Heaney, who was assessed at Craigavon, said: “None of it makes any sense.
“My first concern was that the patient consultation was very low key and they never asked about the Ulster Hospital, they said the Belfast area.”
She argues that City Hospital is a more sensible in Belfast as it has better transport links.
But overall, the retired civil servant said she feels the needs of those south of the Bann have been “ignored”.
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“The review findings and the recommendations don’t make any sense,” added the 54-year-old.
“I worked in the civil service for 30 years and I think the decision was made and they worked back from it. It’s discriminating against elderly people and the rural population.
“Everything north of the Bann and nothing south of the Bann is unacceptable.
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“We need City Hospital and we Craigavon because it makes sense. Why would you take cancer services from a centre of excellence?”
Dr Gwyneth Hinds, who worked with the Belfast City breast assessment team for 13 years, said:
“Moving staff to different units will not increase capacity.
"The document states that we need more consultant radiologists but does not consider how employing more non-consultant clinicians and radiographers would have a much greater impact to increasing capacity."
Dr Hinds added that the consultation "which set out to find a way of reducing waiting times at one-stop clinics has actually raised a lot of concerns and anxiety about the future of all breast services at City Hospital and Craigavon” which she has called on the department to clarify.
But they are not the only ones raising the alarm.
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Alliance Party health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw has raised questions about the transparency of the plans, revealed following many years’ work by the Breast Assessment Project Board “just as the civil service entered a period of self-determined ‘purdah’”.
She said: “It seems bizarre that a decision has been made to place the Breast Assessment Centre at the Ulster Hospital when so many related services and all the specialist expertise exist at Belfast City Hospital.
“This runs plainly contrary to the Bengoa principles.”
Health chiefs believe the drop from five to three centres - at Altnagelvin, Antrim and Ulster Hospital - will allow them to redistribute resources, namely staff, helping them meet the 14-day targets for the most urgent referrals.
But the project board’s own scoring found a four-site model to be the top choice for continuity of patient care, time to delivery and impact on patient travel times.
Their report said: “A move from five services to four may represent an option that could be delivered more readily than other options.”
But it seems this has been written off in favour of three sites as the cut is not “substantive enough to secure sustainable services in the medium to long term”.
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Richard Pengelly, Department of Health Permanent Secretary, said: “Consolidating care on three sites means we can provide durable and quality services, for the benefit of patients and staff.”
A centralised appointment booking system is also planned as part of the proposed reforms. A breast surgery consultation is to follow.
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