The time for words is over. We need action to save more people from cancer
DOCTORS, nurses, and healthcare workers across the country are overburdened and under-resourced, struggling to deliver the care cancer patients need due to Government underfunding.
This means we are not giving people the best possible chance of surviving cancer and of living well after cancer. As CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, I am very aware what it means for me say that. And I am also very aware of what it means for patients and their families to hear me say that. But these are not my words. These are the words of 21 of the country’s leading cancer doctors and researchers in an open letter to Taoiseach Simon Harris this week. Leading cancer doctors right across the country put their name to an open letter which stated: ‘It is simply not possible to provide optimal care or patient outcomes in these conditions.’
Our National Cancer Strategy has only received adequate funding in two of the last seven budgets since its publication in 2017. The Irish Cancer Society has been warning for some time that patients are not being given that chance due to lack of Government investment in cancer services and research. That has now been backed up by 21 of the top cancer doctors and researchers in the country. These are the men and women on the frontline of cancer care in Ireland. These are the people working in our health service who every single day deliver those awful words ‘you have cancer’ to patients and their families. Their dire warning this week must act as an urgent wake-up call for the Government, which is in danger of sleepwalking towards cancer care going backwards in this country. One in two of us will get cancer at some point in our lives. Cancer rates are expected to double within two decades based on current trends. There is not a family in Ireland that has not been touched by this disease. And while more and more people are being diagnosed, thankfully, due to incredible progress in cancer care, access to new medicines and treatments and innovative cancer research, more and more people are now surviving cancer.
It is important to note that progress but that does not mean we stop there. If we do not prioritise cancer, from the very top of Government, we are sadly in danger of losing that progress by standing still, or even going backwards. The 21 doctors and researchers cite a long list of areas where no progress has been made and areas where we are seeing disimprovements. They include: lifesaving cancer screening not expanding as planned; target waiting times for cancer tests not being met; cancer surgeries frequently delayed due to staff shortages; not enough beds and not enough theatre space; radiotherapy services operating significantly below capacity and the list goes on.
These targets not being met has a real-world impact on patients. Delays in screening expansion and testing means we are not catching cancer as early as we should be. We know early detection saves lives. Timely access to both diagnostics and treatment is vital not just because it will deliver better outcomes for patients in terms of their chance of survival, and their mental wellbeing. The Irish Cancer Society nurses hear all too often from patients and their families about the anxiety waiting for tests or care brings. Detecting cancer earlier doesn’t only benefit us by saving more lives but also costs the State less money. For example, it costs the State €4,269 to treat a skin cancer patient diagnosed at Stage 1. At Stage 4 it costs €122,985. That’s 28 times the amount of money.
Another area where we are not making progress is getting newer medicines to our public patients. This means that those who can afford to pay to go private are getting access to new medicines faster those in the public system.
Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care whether you have money or if you are just about getting by. Therefore, how we treat patients shouldn’t be different either. We want to live in an Ireland where everyone, regardless of income, has the best possible chance of surviving cancer.
So, what do we need to see happen? New Taoiseach Simon Harris, who served as Minister for Health when the National Cancer Strategy was published in 2017, must prioritise and give cancer the political focus it deserves.
This Government has, at most, one year remaining, and there is still time for them to act and to ensure that the National Cancer Strategy receives dedicated yearon-year funding for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Only when the Government backs up its plans with action and investment will patients be given the best possible chance of surviving cancer. A plan without action is not a plan. It is just words. Words are of no value to a patient waiting for a diagnostic test, waiting for their surgery, or waiting a medicine that could save their life. The time for words is over.