EXPOSED: Covid-19’s cancer backlog crisis
‘We’re facing a dire situation,’ experts warn
PEOPLE with cancer could die prematurely because of a ‘lack of diagnosis’ following the postponement of cancer screening services, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Rachel Morrogh, director of advocacy and external affairs at the Irish Cancer Society, said they are worried that some people haven’t accessed medical services.
She told the Oireachtas Covid committee yesterday that, following the decision to postpone non-essential surgery and screening procedures, thousands of people have not been screened.
Ms Morrogh said the impact on cancer outcomes will take years ‘to be fully uncovered’. She also warned that health officials will need to clear the growing
‘We’re at a crossroads, we need action today’
backlog quicker than is currently taking place, and also said that a capacity review of hospitals is needed.
She said: ‘It’s important to know what capacity is there. If we illustrate in the case of endoscopy services, we know that their capacity has been reduced to about 30% or 50% of pre-Covid levels, and before Covid there were long waiting times for non-urgent colonoscopies.
‘There is currently 19,000 people waiting for a colonoscopy. How are the endoscopy services able to do more with less?
‘We need people to take action today, because we are at a crossroads and if we do nothing, we are facing a dire situation.’
Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane asked whether people will die of cancer prematurely because of ‘a lack of diagnosis’.
‘Unfortunately that is the case. We need people to be diagnosed early. We are worried that some people haven’t accessed medical services yet,’ Ms Morrogh said.
Susan Clyne, CEO of the Irish Medical Organisation, said there is need for additional capacity in the health service.
‘We cannot accept that we are delivering a health service with this reduced capacity. Temporary builds will have to be the first option, purchasing or renting space will have to be the second,’ Ms Clyne said, adding that the service is short 500 consultants.
‘We have to accept our health services do not have enough health professionals. We want to move on and go to a system that meets people’s needs,’ she said.
Dr Peadar Gilligan told the committee that 580,000 people are on outpatient waiting lists and nearly a quarter of a million people are waiting for various procedures or day-case admissions.
He said: ‘There are massive unmet needs in the system, and that in a system where we were running acute hospitals between 97% and 104% occupancy.’
Donal Buggy, director of services at the Irish Cancer Society, spoke about the stress and impact on cancer patients’ mental health.
‘We are finding that, as lockdown lifts, the stress on cancer patients is increasing,’ he said. Meanwhile, Liam Woods, the national director of acute operations at the HSE, said that the number of clinical staff and doctors employed has ‘risen significantly’ during the coronavirus crisis.
‘The replacement of consultants is not problematic from an approval point of view, but there has been difficulty in recruiting some consultants, it’s a lengthy process,’ Mr Woods said.
‘I think the notion that we have adequate capacity to deal with a Covid surge and the demands of cancer and other urgent elective surgery within the system is a real challenge.
‘It’s going to be difficult to respond to both the elective demand and the unscheduled care demand with the surge we know is coming this winter.’
Social Democrat TD Róisín Shortall raised the issues surrounding bed capacity in hospitals and asked when the public can expect an increase in beds.
Mr Woods said: ‘We are looking at deploying modular technology to put on the ground as much capacity as we can for winter.’