Oncologist calls for vaccination ID to be used for all hospital treatments

Oncology professor Seamus O’Reilly has said the unique identifying number used for every person who was vaccinated during the pandemic should continue to be used for all hospital treatments.

All health services should be harmonised, he told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday.

Prof O’Reilly was commenting on concerns that there will be a huge increase in the number of cancer diagnoses post Covid-19.

[ Doctors in ‘race against time’ to identify missed cancer diagnoses ]

[ Ireland ranks above average for improvements in cancer survival, study shows ]

Referrals from GPs are turning into diagnoses, with more cancer diagnoses in the first six months of 2022 than in all of 2019. This was due to a “multiplicity of factors”, he added.

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Prof O’Reilly urged anyone with symptoms or concerns to seek care. Earlier detection will mean that less treatment will ultimately be required.

The professor said that even if the health service were to freeze now, it would take 11 years to clear the waiting lists.

He said that recruitment and retention needed to be accelerated, adding at present it can take up to two years to replace personnel. There needed to be flexibility with contracts for surgeons, Prof O’Reilly added.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ireland has some of the fastest-improving survival rates for common cancers, according to a study that highlights the importance of having formal plans and policies to tackle the disease.

The improvement in the five-year survival rate for stomach, lung and oesophageal cancers in Ireland between 1995 and 1999 and 2010 and 2014 was the highest of 10 jurisdictions included in the international study published in Lancet Oncology on Monday.

Damien McCallion, HSE interim chief operations officer, also speaking on Morning Ireland, acknowledged that procedures are being cancelled, but said that priority is being given to urgent cases. He said that the three concerns for winter are flu, Covid-19 and RSV.

Mr McCallion acknowledged delays in discharges because of a shortage of available home care. He said that late cancer diagnoses are an international phenomenon, and are a priority for the HSE.