A WOMAN IS to sue the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork for causing an alleged delay in her cancer diagnosis.

The 49-year-old woman, who is suffering from bowel and secondary liver cancer, says that despite tests being carried out in 2006 at the hospital she was not given a diagnosis until three years later, RTÉ reports.

The mother-of-two claims that if she had been diagnosed sooner she could have been treated successfully.

The woman’s lawyers went to the High Court today to explain that her pronosis is poor, and to seek an order that would force the hospital to file its defence more quickly.

Lawyers for the hospital expressed sympathy for the woman’s situation but told the court that they needed more time to file a proper and meaningful defence.

Justice Sean Ryan did not order the “abridgment of time” order the prosecution had been seeking. He did say that he was conscious that the case be heard as soon as possible, however, in consideration of the woman’s very poor health.

Ryan put the case in for mention early October in the hope that progress could be made before then.