The number of women who have received screening for breast cancer through BreastCheck in Galway has plummeted dramatically this year.
In 2018 there were 9,958 women who received breast cancer screening through BreastCheck in Galway, and this went up to 10,657 last year.
But between January and mid-March of this year this year there were just 2,167 women screened in Galway before services halted due to COVID-19.
Figures provided to County Councillor Donagh Killilea for the Regional Health Forum this week showed that BreastCheck services halted on March 16, and screening only resumed on October 27.
During that time there were 150,000 screening invitations nationwide which were paused due to the shutdown.
Breast Cancer screening services in Galway are carried out at the BreastCheck clinic on the grounds of University Hospital Galway.
The National Screening Service said that they are recruiting staff and examining other ways to maximise capacity in order to try and deal with the backlog, but that it will take extra time to complete this round of screenings due to the pause.
