Breast cancer care suffering due to reduced staff, new research finds 

The research involved 184 breast cancer patients and 116 consultants in Ireland.

Doctors working in breast cancer care have warned that patient safety has been deteriorating due to reduced staff numbers and inadequate systems for record keeping.

New research from Cork University Hospital and University College Cork examined how consultants and patients viewed the treatment of breast cancer across the health service. “The majority of doctors felt patient safety had worsened, or stayed the same, in the past five years and that there were inadequate medical error prevention measures,” the study found.

The research involved 184 breast cancer patients and 116 consultants in Ireland.

“Of the doctors, 41.4% felt patient safety had deteriorated over the previous five years and 54.3% felt patient safety measures were inadequate compared to 13% and 27.7% of patients respectively,” the research found.

The authors, including Professor Deirdre Madden of the school of law at University College Cork, and Professor Seamus O’Reilly, an oncologist at Cork University Hospital and Cancer Research UCC, said the findings should be taken into account by health officials. The authors said: 

Most doctors in this study had worked for over a decade in breast cancer care and their concerns should serve as a warning for responsible policymakers.

The team said the study revealed “a significant prevalence of medical error” as well as personal and professional impacts for patients and doctors.

“Over half of doctors and a quarter of patients felt medical error prevention measures were inadequate,” the authors said.

Consultants who took part in the research said staff are contending with a “very high workload” and are feeling “overworked, burnt-out or stressed”.

CUH Oncologist Professor Seamus O’Reilly co-authored the report. Picture: Larry Cummins

Concerns were also raised around “inadequate staffing”. The research also highlighted “poorly organised systems for record-keeping” and “poorly organised systems for appointments and follow-up” as contributing to safety risks.

The authors point to a European Commission report which highlighted digital health records as “crucial tools” in cancer prevention. Ireland does not yet have these nationally.

Multiple barriers also exist to reporting errors made in the treatment of patients, the study found.

Consultants reported “no confidence in the impact of error reporting and no established culture of reporting”.

The survey found that medical errors have “long-term physical, emotional, and financial impacts on patients”.

Some 30 patients experienced medical errors or negligence claims. Among these, 18 reported “permanent or long-term physical and emotional effects.”

The study also said 42 of 48 doctors who experienced medical errors or negligence claims reported emotional health impacts. “Almost half of doctors involved in negligence claims considered early retirement,” they found.

This study, which focuses on a 5-year period to 2022, has been published in the medical journal The Breast.