An increase in demand for cervical cancer services and anxiety caused by waiting lists created a “perfect storm” which led to the abuse of frontline staff, a leading doctor claimed today.
The news that staff working in the 15 colposcopy clinics across the country have been verbally abused for months comes as it emerged that nearly 100 women involved in an independent review have died of cervical cancer.
But the health service must focus on the future of cervical cancer screening, Dr Nóirín Russell said today, as she called for support from women and the media.
Dr Russell, lead colposcopist with Kerry Colposcopy Service, said administration and nursing staff across the country have been yelled at by women deeply concerned about their results and waiting times.
She said the workload at her clinic increased 57% in 2018 compared with 2017, on foot of the CervicalCheck scandal, which broke in April 2018.
Dr Russell and her staff have had to cope with this sharp increase without any additional resources or support.
“There was a lot of anger when the waiting list became a problem, when all the out-of-programme screenings were performed,” Dr Russell told RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland.
“That lead to long delays waiting for results and that lead to women ringing every day looking for results.
“And that anger often led to quite, I mean, I think abuse is probably a strong word, but there was a lot of abusive language used against administration staff and nursing staff in clinics around the country.
“It’s really important not to underestimate how stressful it is for women waiting for an appointment that we’re unable to tell them when it will be because of these lists.
“So you’ve got a perfect storm - you’ve got really anxious, worried women ringing regularly, and staff who are really under pressure.”
Dr Russell said women often directed anxiety towards her staff, as they could not speak with the laboratories.
She said: “We were the frontline. The patients didn’t have an opportunity to speak with the laboratory staff, they had an opportunity to speak to us.
“So I understand the anger. I understand the frustration. But we became the recipients of that on the frontline and it’s been really, really damaging to staff.”
On Tuesday, a highly anticipated review of CervicalCheck by Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists UK (RCOG) was published.
Of the 1,038 women involved in the review, 98 have died in total.
The review found 159 “missed opportunities” to prevent or diagnose cancer.
Out of the women involved in the review, 60 are part of the 221+ group set up for survivors and their families involved in the CervicalCheck controversy.
But Dr Russell insisted that the CervicalCheck programme is effective, and called for support from women and the media.
She said: “The release of the RCOG review has been helpful. We don’t want to leave the service. We believe in cervical screening. It works, it leads to a reduction in cervical cancer.
“We need all of the women to attend the service - and they’ll only attend if they trust the service and have confidence in it.
“We hope the future is bright. We hope that support is there.”
