Cancer charities describe unequal access to services as 'horrifying'

Averil Power: Picture: Shane O'Neill, Coalesce.

A stark report into unequal access to cancer treatment is a “horrifying” glimpse of challenges lower-income people can face, the Irish Cancer Society has said.

The review of access to screening, hospitals, and after-care found that, despite overall improvements, serious barriers still exist for vulnerable groups. These include people on low incomes, especially those with children, members of the Traveller and Roma communities, and homeless people.

Cancer services are generally lauded in this country, but Irish Cancer Society CEO Averil Power said it is sad to see these benefits are not shared equally.

“It is horrifying that you are much more likely both to get and to die from cancer if you live in certain areas,” she said.

Averil Power, CEO of Irish Cancer Society; Dr Frances Drummond, research manager at Breakthrough Cancer Research, TD Colm Burke and Shana Cohen, director of TASC. Picture: Shane O'Neill, Coalesce.

A report published on Tuesday, carried out by think-tank TASC and supported by MSD Ireland, in many ways ripped the cobwebs from long-standing problems.

It calls for ‘unique health identifiers’, meaning files can be shared electronically between patients, hospitals or GPs. So homeless people accessing help in different areas can have their medical histories to hand, for example.

These are issues requiring cross-departmental work at State level, the report shows.

“From our point of view, this research isn’t new, but it is horrifying,” Ms Power said.

We should never be immune to this, and it really needs to serve as a wake-up call to put the services in place.

The report highlights the worrying reality poorer people are more likely to have cancer diagnosed in an emergency department (ED) at an advanced stage instead of at an earlier, more treatable, point.

In the report, a doctor described the impact of many patients arriving at hospitals with advanced cancers as “a bit like a landmine, it can blow, you know, it can explode anywhere”. 

Cork-based charity Breakthrough Cancer Research’s research manager Dr Frances Drummond described lack of progress as "disappointing".

However, she picked out areas where hospitals and voluntary groups are doing work that could be expanded, also a report recommendation. 

Free parking initiatives

“Some hospitals like UHL (University Hospital Limerick) have free parking for radiotherapy patients. This is super,” she said.

She added: “I would say that the charity sector has grown as a result of these gaps in the national service.” 

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke said he recently engaged with people affected by these challenges, saying solutions do not lie only in health.

One man (24) has stomach and lung cancer but is living in temporary housing. Another young woman (21) received a bone marrow transplant and is also in need of housing.

The report Understanding the challenges of cancer and socio-economic inequality in Ireland comes at a time when cancer services face unprecedented challenges.

Irish oncologists warn it could take 10 years to understand how many cancers were missed or diagnosed late during the pandemic. It seems this is even more acute for people on low incomes.