Cancer is one of the biggest killers in our community so there can’t be many people who haven’t had some personal experience of this disease. I doubt there is a person alive who hasn’t lost a friend or relative to cancer.
So, you would imagine with it being so common and so destructive that every available resource would be thrown at it to tackle the damn thing.
That’s not the case in this country though but then again, I shouldn’t be surprised because our politicians, regardless of party affiliations, have plenty of experience of getting things wrong.
The new children’s hospital is one example. It’s been under construction for seven years with a seemingly endless budget and not a single child has been treated there yet. We have a homeless crisis, a housing shortage, a broken health service, and a struggling police service but we can still manage to build a bicycle shelter at a cost in excess of three hundred thousand Euro.
In the meantime, while they faff about in the Dail blaming each other for all the shortcomings, cancer patients are being let down on two fronts. Firstly, in terms of early detection and early treatment and secondly, at the other end of the scale in terms of care for end-of-life patients.
According to the Irish Examiner, The Irish Cancer Society’s helpline has received a large volume of calls from cancer patients who cannot access life-saving radiation therapy. As many as 60% of cancer patients are likely to need radiation therapy, but they’re “falling through the gaps” due to under-investment.
The National Cancer Strategy says people should start radiotherapy within 15 days but almost 40% of patients are not getting access within the recommended timeframe which could lead to poorer results for patients.
We’re constantly being reminded by the experts that early detection and early treatment is essential in treating cancer, but that’s not the case for everyone and far too many are being let down.
Many patients nearing the end of life are also being let down. Dr Karie Dennehy, Palliative Medicine Consultant, Marymount University Hospital and Hospice and Cork University Hospital, said recently that palliative care is everyone’s business.
Dr. Dennehy is spot on. It is everyone’s business, and we don’t realise the value of it until we need the service. Then we learn very quickly, and I for one can’t speak highly enough about the Marymount organisation and their palliative care teams.
When my father was dying of cancer, he wanted to spend his last days at home. As a family, we were determined to make that happen and that would only change if a time came when we couldn’t provide the care he needed, or his suffering became too much.
It wasn’t easy. Anyone who has been through it with a loved one will be well aware of the difficulties involved. It’s frightening, confusing, stressful and uncertain. The medical professionals can give a reasonable estimate of when the end is likely to come, but they can never be precise and there is a practical concern attached to that.
The most important thing is to ensure the patient doesn’t suffer and that was my biggest worry. I had heard the palliative care team could only allocate ten days care to each terminally ill patient, and I wasn’t qualified to determine when that ten-day period should start. What if I called them in too soon and we ran out of days?
It doesn’t work that way of course. The GP knew when to notify the palliative care team and he set the ball rolling. A member of the team called to the house and went through the process with us. When I told her of my biggest fear, she reassured me that they would never leave us in the lurch.
The palliative care team were absolutely fantastic from the moment they got involved, and the care they gave my dad was second to none. The night nurse moved in for his final few days and made sure he was comfortable right to the end. They are amazing people, and we would have really struggled to cope without them.
In this day and age, nobody should have to endure undue suffering at the end of their lives but unfortunately that’s not the case. Another story in the Irish Examiner highlighted the fact that many terminally ill cancer patients cannot afford to heat their homes and as a result they are enduring hardship in their final weeks or days in cold, damp houses.
One in three night nurses from the Irish Cancer Society who provide end-of-life care across the country have told how they have seen patients in homes without any heating and unable to keep their houses warm because of worries about energy bills.
At a time when the families of the terminally ill can be pushed into a financial crisis, three nurses in five reported how households struggled to pay bills such as mortgage, rent and utilities. Nearly one in two said there was no central heating in patients’ homes. Some patients were huddled in blankets and hot water bottles.
Cancer patients are more vulnerable to the cold. Patients’ home heating may also need to be kept on during the summer because of their frailty. Patients on cancer drugs can feel the cold more readily and because they are terminally ill their requirements are higher. Worrying about the cost of the energy bill should not be an issue.
I don’t know what the government plan to do with the Apple windfall but before they fritter it all away on more badly planned projects and cost overruns, maybe they should spare a thought for the sick and the dying. Cancer service providers shouldn’t have to rely on the generosity of our citizens.