Even in a pandemic, healthcare delayed is healthcare denied
AFTER all we’ve been through, all that death, anguish and heartache – and Simon Harris and the HSE still don’t get it.
They allowed what we regard as normal and essential healthcare to be withdrawn in favour of an all-in policy to control the coronavirus.
They told us at the start of the crisis that elective surgeries and procedures would be postponed – which seemed reasonable. What they didn’t say was that their defintion of ‘elective’ procedures would include children with scoliosis enduring lives of increasing pain.
What they also failed to explain was that their clearing of the decks to take on Covid-19 would impact the care of cancer patients and suspected cancer victims way after the virus had been suppressed.
BreastCheck, CervicalCheck and screening for bowel cancer – amongst other vital services – were stopped. About 3,000 women were being tested for signs of cancer every single week before the whole thing was halted in March. And now we’re told that when it resumes in September, they’ll only be able to screen about 1,500 women a week.
Given that about 1,700 cancers are detected by these programmes annually, it’s clear that up to around 850 people will now have delayed diagnoses, with all the dreadful disadvantages that may involve.
This is a mess of the Government’s making – a case study in disaster management characterised by panic, grandstanding and press conferences.
Tragically, the price of this will be paid by countless victims who will be forced into bitter, long and drawn-out fights for their health over the coming years – fights that could and should have been avoided.