Cancer Care in Ireland in 2020 – the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
This report, launched in Dec 2021, highlighted the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on cancer diagnostics and treatment in Ireland in 2020. The report was a collaboration between the Faculty of Pathology (RCPI), National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), National Specialty Quality Improvement Programmes in Histopathology, Queen's University Belfast (QUB), SQI programmes in GI Endoscopy and Radiology, National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI), Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and DATA-CAN (the UK’s Health Data Research Hub for Cancer).
The report detailed the reduction in activity experienced across the cancer services pathway during 2020, most marked during the first wave of the pandemic in March to June 2020. There was variable recovery in all aspects of presentation, diagnosis, and treatment from June 2020 onward however activity overall did not reach 2019 levels. The report made the following high-level recommendations arising from the analysis of the data:
- Continue to encourage and support the public to act early on signs and symptoms of possible cancer
- Ensure a resilient cancer service with sufficient capacity to address backlogs and increasing demands
- Improve availability and integration of data to provide more timely, comprehensive cancer-specific intelligence encompassing public and private healthcare system.
Read full report
Cancer Care in Ireland in 2020 – the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (PDF, 2,292KB)