Cancer patients face a “worst case” as Covid puts pressure on the NHS. NHS

Progress in eliminating the NHS cancer treatment backlog in the UK High Covid case The lack of staff, analysis suggests.

With increasing hospitalizations for coronavirus and pressure on medical services, experts warn that patients may get worse as the “worst case” of cancer treatment approaches.

The NHS has been trying to catch up with the untreated pandemic of cancer treatment, but analyzed by McMillan. cancer Support for official data suggests that the drive has recently receded and the number of potential cancer diagnoses has increased.

Four major cancer controls have receded, and two have fallen to record levels.

Numbers released by the NHS England, And analyzed by McMillan for the Guardian, show that the number of patients who started treatment in August following a treatment decision decreased to 25,800. The numbers for June and July were over 27,000. The percentage of patients who started treatment within a month of deciding on treatment dropped to 93.7%. This is the lowest percentage ever recorded.

Data released last week also found that there were a record number of patients who were forced to wait more than two months after an urgent referral from their GP before they started cancer treatment in August. is showing. According to McMillan, the highest number recorded that 4,075 patients began treatment two months after being referred.

The fourth measurement, GP’s urgent cancer referral, was also delayed in the last month when the numbers were available. Data show that 210,931 emergency cancer referrals were made by the British GP in August. This is above the non-pandemic August 2019 equivalent of 200,317, but McMillan said it had receded because it was lower than in June and July.

McMillan said he was concerned that the increase in hospitalizations due to Covid would “make the system more difficult to handle.” Efforts to tackle the untreated portion have also been hit by a shortage of cancer nurses, charities said.

Steven Mackintosh, Executive Director of Advocacy at McMillan, said: This runs the risk of a complete storm, as the system experiences a significant influx of patients, along with an overwhelming workforce struggling to provide the care and support people need urgently. “

Minesh Patel, Head of Policy for McMillan, said: If the recovery of vulnerable cancers now begins to recede, the backlog will only continue to grow and people’s chances of survival will potentially worsen again. “

“It’s a shame to see a recession in referrals and a lack of further progress in treatment numbers compared to last month,” he added.

Lack of nurses Exacerbating the crisis. McMillan estimates that the NHS was already lacking in 2,500 professional cancer nurses in the United Kingdom, even before the turmoil caused by Covid. That number is probably now close to 3,000, he said.

According to McMillan, one in four people (25%) diagnosed with cancer in the UK in the last two years has at least one in almost half (44%) of this group without the support of a professional cancer nurse. We are experiencing two potentially serious medical consequences. result.

A charity has given the minister a £ 124m ring-fenced cancer nurse training fund to train an additional 3,371 professional cancer nurses who say they will need it in the UK by 2030. We are calling for the establishment.

Macintosh added: NHSThe government now needs to work both to protect cancer services and address the shocking shortage of cancer nurses in future spending reviews. “

A report by the Institute for Public Policy (IPPR) think tanks and CF health consultants released this month suggests that it could take more than a decade to eliminate the untreated portion of UK cancer treatment. The pandemic reduced endoscopy by 37%, MRI scans by 25%, and CT scans by 10%, he said.

The study also showed that during the pandemic heyday (March 2020-February 2021), 369,000 fewer people than expected were referred to experts suspected of having cancer. In addition, chemotherapy treatment was 187,000 less and radiation treatment was 15,000 less.

A spokesperson for the NHS said:

“The NHS remains open and ready to take care of you, so it’s important that people experiencing cancer symptoms come forward and be tested.”