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Cancer and heart patients in Northern Ireland are likely to have their treatment delayed or cancelled due to a “severe shortage” of radioisotopes in Northern Ireland.

Radioisotopes are mainly used for diagnosing cancer, including prostate and breast cancer.

In a statement the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, said the shortage has the potential to cause significant disruption to patient care in the coming weeks.

According to the Department of Health there is a worldwide shortage.

What are radioisotopes?

Radiotherapy, or radioisotope therapy uses small amounts of radiation to provide diagnostic information about the function of a patient’s organs.

It can also be used to treat them.

Diagnostic procedures using radioisotopes are now routine in the NHS.

Radiotherapy can be used to treat some medical conditions, especially cancer, using radiation to weaken or destroy targeted cells.

According to the Department of Health there is a world-wide shortage of the piece equipment.

It is due to the temporary reduction in the production of molybdenum-99 which is used to generate technetium-99m.

The radioisotope technetium-99m is used safely for diagnostics within health and social care.

Clinicians are to review patients on a case-by-case basis to discuss options with the patients directly.

Nesbitt said his department was working with counterparts across the UK to “limit” the impact.

"Despite efforts by my department, working in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the other devolved administrations to limit the negative impacts of this shortage, it is expected that there will be delays to patient access to services relying on the impacted radioisotopes, potentially including cancellations,” Nesbitt said.

Supply chain disruption

The shortage of molybdenum-99 is caused by a sudden global disruption of manufacturing capacity, with several of the nuclear reactors used to produce these elements being out of service.

There are six trusted research reactors globally for the supply of molybdenum-99, none of which are in the UK.

Some of these reactors are currently out of service to allow for critical repair work; this is essential work necessary for the safe running of the research reactors, the department said.

According to the minister’s statement, two of the impacted reactors are expected to restart production during the second week of November, with deliveries from these reactors expected to resume in mid-November.

The minister said the priority was to minimise the impact on patients as much as possible.

He said guidance has been issued via a National Patient Safety alert to ensure that patients with the most critical need are prioritised.