Cancer care crisis:  Delayed diagnosis, two-tier system, and a lack of new treatments

There are fears among patients, medical professionals, and advocates that cancer care — the 'poster child' for reform in Ireland — has been regressing in recent years, writes Niamh Griffin

Niamh Conroy, who has stage 4 cancer, is co-founder of online support group Bowel Cancer Ireland. Photo: Moya Nolan

Cancer patients waiting days on trolleys in emergency departments, having to move to Spain for a cancer clinical trial, waiting seven months for a colonoscopy — these are not the stories we expect about cancer, the “poster child” for reform in Ireland.

Despite seemingly significant improvements in survival rates for many cancers in Ireland over the last two decades, patients and doctors say the reality on the ground is very different.