Free wigs won’t resolve medical card hardship
Mother of child with cancer says minister’s changes don’t cover huge bills
A WOMAN whose nine-year-old daughter has cancer has welcomed changes that provide certain aids for free but says what her daughter really needs is a medical card.
Following public outrage last year about severely ill people losing cards due to budget cuts, a 10-point plan to review the system was announced. Last month the HSE quietly sepa- rated some aids and prosthetics, including wigs, from the need to have a medical card.
But although this move has been welcomed by campaigners and families, it still leaves families struggling with huge bills, they say. A spokesman for Health Minister Leo Varadkar said new rules had applied to certain aids since January. He said: ‘ Access to prosthetics, including wigs, for children undergoing treatment, should not depend on medical card status. Publicly provided prosthetics can be provided to a child undergoing cancer treatment and there is no requirement to hold a medical card.’
Kathleen O’Meara, head of advocacy and communications at the Irish Cancer Society, said of the changes: ‘ This will go some way towards reducing the financial burden on parents.
‘However, the society is still concerned about the ongoing issues around access to medical cards for cancer patients generally and we are continuing to campaign for medical cards to be issued based on medical need rather than income.’
Costs for children’s wigs made from human hair start at about €700, and average €450 for a synthetic version, according to Rebecca Marks from Roche’s Wigs in Dublin. She said: ‘ The majority of the children who come in would have a medical
‘Cancer is not a cheap illness’
card but unfortunately it does depend on the parents’ circumstances. Cancer is not a cheap illness, and if the HSE is covering the wig costs that would be fantastic.’
But nine-year-old Lucy O’Connor’s mother Angela said wigs were just one of the mounting expenses they face. Lucy was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, B-cell lymphoma, in September. Both parents were working, and, according to the HSE, Angela and her husband were over the financial threshold for a card.
However, since then Angela has had to stop working and become a full-time carer for Lucy. Following an appeal, the family was refused again this week.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s treatment at Crumlin hospital could last another 12 months. ‘The wig is just one thing. Lucy had shoulder-length dark brown hair, she loved her hair, you know, like all little girls,’ Angela said. ‘It is fairly awful, she knows her photograph is in the papers. I’ve had to explain to her that she doesn’t qualify for a card, but other children on her oncology ward do.’ And she added: ‘I don’t want people to fundraise for care that should be covered under the medical card.
‘It is her basic right to have a card. Why should anyone fundraise for that?’
Angela is unsure whether they will appeal the decision again. She said: ‘I’d like to think we will find the strength to appeal, but she is so sick. The oncology ward is a very lonely place for a parent.’
More than 200 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in Ireland. Childhood Cancer Foundation, a growing charity that is marking its first anniversary, has called on the public to wear gold ribbons today, which is also International Childhood Cancer Day, to help raise awareness of the disease.
Spokeswoman Mary Claire Rennick said the charity was seeking to fund play and recreational facilities at St John’s Ward in Crumlin.