Finance a growing problem for cancer patients

CANCER PATIENTS face additional and unnecessary financial hardship as a result of their illness, according to new research.

Almost every cancer patient has incurred costs as a result of their illness, with nearly half spending hundreds of euro on private hospital consultants because they cannot get an appointment in time.

More than 800 people with cancer were interviewed for the survey which was carried out by the National Cancer Registry Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society.

The society reported that the number of people looking for financial assistance as a result of their illness is up by nearly a half in the last two years. It paid out €1 million last year in financial support and to help cancer sufferers with transport costs to and from treatment.

The society’s head of services, Mairéad Lyons said financial strain was a “continued and increasing” problem.

She said many cancer patients do not understand their employers’ sickness pay policies and lose out as a result.

The difference is most pronounced among those who are self-employed, where only 5 per cent received any sick pay, while two-thirds of those who are employed receive some form of benefit.

The most significant expense has been consultant fees, with nearly half of all cancer patients paying an average of €455 to see a consultant, even though the nature of their illness meant they were entitled to see one through the public system. Transport costs, getting to and from hospital, amounted to an average of €360 each for those who incurred them, with €75 for parking.

Of those who were working at the time of diagnosis, 83 per cent took time off. The figure was higher among those working for an employer (87 per cent) than among the self-employed (65 per cent).

Almost a third reported their household income had fallen since their diagnosis. This percentage was higher among women and younger patients.

Breast cancer patient, Katie Ryan, who has just finished her treatment, said she had spent more than €1,500 on transport to and from Cahir in Tipperary to the hospital in Dublin.

She said if did not have health insurance she would have had to pay €1,200 for every injection she got after chemotherapy.