Michael is a 49-year-old farmer from Co Galway. He is married with two children and he went to his GP when he suddenly lost two stone over two months earlier this year.
The family doctor was concerned when he examined Michael; both his liver and his spleen were enlarged, suggesting a possible malignancy. He referred him to the nearest accident and emergency department for immediate hospital admission.
Despite a two-week stay, Michael was discharged with no diagnosis. He needed a specialist bone marrow examination which, due to some demarcation issues, involved a complete readmission. Nor was the hospital able to organise a CT scan.
It took more than three months before a diagnosis of lymphoma [cancer of the glands] was made. Michael has responded well to chemotherapy. However, both he and his GP feel let down by the system's inability to make a quick diagnosis.
What will the health strategy mean in a case such as this?
Objective 3 of the strategy states the system will have the capacity to deliver timely and appropriate services. The case illustrates the urgent need for this to happen. To be admitted to hospital for two weeks with what turned out to be cancer without a diagnosis is not acceptable.
What does the strategy offer a patient like Michael?
It promises the Cancer Forum will work with the new National Hospitals' Agency to ensure "service quality, accessibility and responsiveness". It also promises more one-day procedures, the availability of which would have ensured a quicker bone marrow examination.