Tipperary GP sees patients ignoring cancer signs, broken bones

The team at Ballingarry Health Centre: Christine Hourihan, secretary; Dr Margaret O Riordan; Nurse Kay Horan; and Dr John Curtin. Picture: Brian Arthur

People are ignoring signs of cancer and hiding broken bones because they are afraid to go to hospitals, a Tipperary GP has warned.

Dr Margaret O’ Riordan, a GP in Ballingarry and past president of the Irish College of General Practitioners said she was “extremely worried” about the impact of the pandemic on general health.

In the last year, she has seen more and more people waiting until lockdowns are lifted before coming for treatment.

“People, particularly older people, could have had symptoms for two or three months before they appear. People come in with a skin lesion they’ve had for a couple of months, or with a fracture.

They fell and broke bones and didn’t appear for three months. They are afraid, it’s heart-breaking but it’s true. I’ve seen that.” 

This is not anxiety about any particular hospital, she said, but a general fear due to the high case numbers.

Dr Margaret O Riordan: 'People, particularly older people, could have had symptoms for two or three months before they appear. People come in with a skin lesion they’ve had for a couple of months, or with a fracture.' Picture: Brian Arthur

“In January, we had it again. People with severe abdominal pain normally would have rang you the same day but now they try to stick it out for a few days. They say the reason they haven’t rung you is they are afraid to go to hospital,” she said.

They’re afraid they will get Covid and bring it home with them or worse.” 

Some people are aware now that hospitals have separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways she said, but they are still reluctant to come for treatment in her experience.

“I do suspect there is a build-up out there of people with symptoms still," Dr O'Riordan said.

“The other concern is people on the waiting lists, there are people on those lists referred by a GP and they are not getting seen. Then there is a worry something is being missed.” She has concerns about skin and bowel cancer diagnosis in particular.

A spokeswoman for South Tipperary Hospital said: “During the third wave, the hospital maintained non-Covid-19 services as much as possible. Outpatient clinics, access to diagnostics, time-critical surgeries and urgent endoscopies all continued.

“It should be noted that week-on-week the hospital is increasing its routine activity.” 

Focused on vaccines

In the meantime, Dr O’Riordan is focused on vaccines. The team – Dr John Curtin and nurses Kay Horan, Christine Hourihan – started with their oldest patients.

“That was a wonderful day, people were almost skipping down the corridor,” she said.

Unfortunately, they were then hit by the vaccine shortages.

A shortage of the Moderna vaccine had the knock-on effect of increasing demand for Pfizer/BioNTech jabs. This meant all orders were reduced by 15%, a notice from the HSE informed GPs last weekend.

“We had to cancel six patients,” Dr O'Riordan said, noting larger practices cancelled dozens of patients.

This was “very upsetting” for her elderly patients, who must wait for the next delivery in two weeks.

“It’s a bit of a logistical nightmare, but it’s beyond our control,” she said.