This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Concerning disruption to cancer care
Latest NHS figures indicate that cancer care in England has faced major disruption during the coronavirus pandemic with big drops in numbers being seen following urgent referrals by GPs.
The data shows that the number of people being assessed by a cancer doctor after referral fell to 79,500 in April, which is a decrease of 60 per cent compared to the same month last year. At the same time, patients starting treatment dropped to 10,800 which is 20 per cent below the numbers seen in April 2019.
NHS England has announced that a number of innovative approaches were being introduced to keep cancer care running, including the fastrack rollout of an innovative type of radiotherapy and the use of ‘chemo buses’ so people can receive life-saving care without having to travel long distances.
However, charities have warned that the disruption to services would have a devastating effect, with Cancer Research UK estimating that there will be a backlog of more than two million people waiting for screening across the UK.
The NHS figures also include data for A&E and routine operations, which show that routine operations were cancelled en-masse during April to help free up space for the expected surge of coronavirus patients. Only 41,000 underwent surgery in that month, down from 280,000 in April 2019.
Routine work is now in the process of being re-started, although NHS bosses have said the waiting list could more than double in size by the start of next year as hospitals are struggling to get back to full capacity because of the strain of dealing with the pandemic.
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