Patients face ‘agonising' nine-month wait for cancer diagnosis

01-08-2025

Patients are waiting up to nine months to find out if they have cancer because of overwhelming demand for colonoscopies at Victoria's public hospitals.
Doctors warn the lengthy delays are undermining the effectiveness of the national screening program for bowel cancer, which aims to detect the deadly disease early.
Sherri, who did not want her surname used for privacy reasons, received a positive result from a take-home bowel cancer test in October 2024.
Her GP referred her to Werribee Mercy Hospital later that month, and the hospital contacted the mother of two in December to confirm a March appointment in its outpatient clinic.
But despite experiencing ongoing stomach pain and being deemed a category 1 patient — which means she requires treatment within 30 days — Sherri had to wait until this week to have a colonoscopy. She is now awaiting the results.
'I've been experiencing severe anxiety,' she said of her nine-month wait. 'It could be nothing, but it could be something that needs attention.'
Sherri said she was unable to afford the $1000 cost of having the procedure in a private hospital.
'This is not how things should be in a country that prides itself on having one of the best public health systems,' she said.
While the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program recommends that participants who receive a positive result have a colonoscopy within 30 days, the median waiting time in Victorian public and private hospitals is 54 days. This figure is probably much higher for public hospitals alone.