Irish Examiner view: Doctor warns of the human cost of the 'postcode lottery' of cancer care
'I see the human cost of the postcode lottery in Irish cancer care every day,' says University Hospital Galway oncologist and Irish Society of Medical Oncology president Michael McCarthy. File picture: Ray Ryan
Analysis carried out by the Irish Cancer Society has shown that delays in cancer care — specifically for breast, lung, and prostate cancer patients — are causing deaths which are avoidable. The data analysed comes from the national cancer control programme and shows differences in treatment times between cancer centres for the first time.
Those differences mean delays.
A spokesperson for the society pointed out that research published in the has found that every four-week delay in starting cancer treatment can increase mortality by 10%, adding: “So there is no question that these delays are causing avoidable deaths.”
The messaging we receive about cancer treatment is often a curious mixture of hope and despair. Recovery rates for some cancers are high; this week’s report points out that almost all men diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer survive, for instance.
But the underlying message of this report is a grim one, best explained by Michael McCarthy, a consultant in Galway and the president of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology. Dr McCarthy said:
“Once chemotherapy is prescribed, the national cancer strategy states that it should start within 15 working days. The reality in Galway is that patients are now typically waiting seven to eight weeks for their first session.”
The postcode lottery has become almost background noise when it comes to healthcare in Ireland. For such a senior clinician to state the facts so baldly illustrates the level of that acceptance — rather than causing outrage or shock, it merely confirms the experience of most service users.
A wider question also arises about the national cancer strategy. If it is a given that its proposals simply cannot be followed, as instanced by Dr McCarthy’s experience in Galway, is it fit for purpose?
It is appalling that one’s home address should have such a clear influence on one’s chances of surviving serious illness — particularly when cancer throws a shadow over almost every family in this country.
The warm weather is having an impact beyond the sales of suncream and parking availability at popular beaches.
Uisce Éireann has appealed to the public to conserve water, as supplies are now in drought status across several counties.
The water utility has revealed that the network was already experiencing increased pressure on supplies across several regions, including Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Clare, Dublin, Galway, Donegal, Meath, Westmeath, and Wexford.
Among the water-saving tips shared by Uisce Éireann is a recommendation to use a watering can for your plants instead of a hose or sprinkler, as running a hose for one hour uses as much water as a family typically needs in an entire day.
Does our profligacy with water have an obvious cause — as we do not pay directly for our running water, are we more inclined to be careless with it?
We are already experiencing challenges with our water supply. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that the supply for 500,000 people in Ireland is at risk, naming areas including Limerick City (115,000 people), Co Kildare (81,000), and Glashaboy in Cork (23,000) among those most at risk.
In articulating these difficulties, Micheál Lehane, director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, pointed to an uncomfortable truth when he stated that long-term sustained investment in water service infrastructure is needed.
The climate crisis is complicating this matter still further, of course — we need only observe the savage heat which is punishing Europe in recent days — but the EPA’s call for investment in infrastructure means water charges, in reality. There may be little political will or public appetite for such charges, but a serious conversation is needed if we are to secure our water supplies.
If we do not, then using watering cans instead of garden hoses will make little difference.
Large crowds of soccer fans were visible in Cork on Tuesday evening as they made their way from the city centre down the Centre Park Rd and Monahan Rd, the traditional access routes for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Glasgow Celtic were in town to take on local side Cork City in the stadium, and the jerseys of both sides were much in evidence.
They weren’t the only fans of the beautiful game who were wending their way through that part of Cork, however.
Roy Keane was in conversation with Roddy Doyle as part of the Live At The Marquee series of events. It might seen an odd gig in comparison with some of the others on offer in the venue, such as guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa, but Keane’s events were a huge success.
It has been an extraordinary transformation in the public perception of Keane. An ultra-competitive presence in his storied career with Manchester United, few would have envisaged the aggressive dynamo of those days transforming into the avuncular presence much-loved for his punditry and podcasting.
However, Keane’s brand of dry humour and light crankiness has proven a huge hit, as evidenced by the rapturous reception he received in the Marquee.
Granted, the Mayfield native was in his home place for those gigs, but his adoption as a sort of national uncle, whose dislikes and disappointments are seen as lovable foibles, is remarkable.
Saipan seems a long time ago now.
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