Susie Long

Living in Kilkenny I have always been very aware of the plight of Susie Long.  Susie died of advanced cancer in 2007.  Her story is a tough one to hear.  Having presented to her GP with worrying symptoms, Susie then had to wait for 7 months before a colonoscopy examination took place.  By this time, the cancer, which had been growing all the while was at an advanced stage, meaning that Susie’s life expectancy was dramatically reduced by the time she received a diagnosis. Susie spoke out publicly about the unfairness and the inequality that she had experienced in the Irish health service.  It was unfair and inequitable because Susie did not have health insurance, if she had, she would have gotten the colonoscopy done within a few days, her cancer would have been detected at a much earlier stage, and who knows maybe she would still be here today to lead the campaign against injustice herself.  

It is really heart-breaking to hear similar stories – endless visits to the GP, endless waiting on scans and investigations, endless worrying.  When I began my career in cancer care in the UK in 1999 these stories were fairly commonplace then.  Having left the UK in 2005, I am not able to comment on how effective the introduction of the ‘2 week wait’ standard has been – that anyone who presents to their GP with suspected cancer will have been seen by a specialist within 2 weeks, but I can remember being on the wards just before I left and hearing the stories about how quickly tests and treatments were organised, so I was optimistic that the tide was beginning to turn.  Here in Ireland, I can’t help thinking that we have a  long way to go yet.  The 2 tier system, which so badly let Susie Long down is still very much in place. After many years of wasted overspending and now in the days of cuts and restrictions it is quite possible that the gap between the 2 tiers is now even wider.  And it’s not just the cancer services that I worry about, it’s the system as whole.  There is rarely a week goes by without some kind of scandal or horror story related to our health services. 

The new government have pledged to reform the health service in Ireland.  Their plan aims to have a Universal Health Insurance scheme in place by 2016 – which effectively will mean equal better healthcare for everyone.  Hopefully by then our health statistics will reflect this, but remember that behind and within every statistic, there is a person, a family and their unique story.  Susie Long was such a person, her family were such a family, and their story cannot be ignored.  

The Susie Long Hospice Fund  aims to  “To provide the highest possible quality of end-of-life care for patients and their families through the establishment of a 12-bed hospice in Kilkenny”.