Now private clinics will provide NHS cancer treatment
Patients face being denied chemo and radiotherapy. But a new deal may help 20,000
Scared — too shocked to cry.’ That’s how mother- ofthree catherine Wilcockson felt as she put the phone down after learning that her next chemotherapy session due next week had been cancelled — yet another victim of the covid-19 outbreak as it takes its toll on the NHS and its resources.
School kitchen assistant catherine, 37, was told she had a cancerous brain tumour, the size of two apples, last May after a scan following a seizure.
Surgery could remove only 80 per cent of it and catherine, a single mum of three daughters: Tia, 19, christie, 16 and Shani, nine, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire needed 30 sessions of radiotherapy before starting a nine-month course of chemotherapy in October. The treatment involved three drugs: procarbazine, tablet lomustine and vincristine by an intravenous drip.
‘It was gruelling — I had to have the dose reduced in my last session as it had caused liver problems — but scans showed it was shrinking my tumour,’ says catherine.
Four weeks ago, catherine got the news she longed to hear: the remaining tumour had shrunk dramatically. ‘I’d thought I was on my way to beating the tumour and getting on with my normal life again, returning to work and looking after my girls.’
Then last week her consultant called to say her next session on april 15 was cancelled.
‘The doctor said she would phone in eight weeks “for a chat” to see what will happen next,’ says catherine. ‘She couldn’t give me any assurances or a date for when it would happen, which was devastating.’
any delay in her final sessions could be vital. ‘The type of tumour I’ve got can grow back and I want to make sure as much of the tumour as possible is destroyed,’ says catherine. ‘I’ve been through so much in the past ten months any delay now seems unfair.’
Numerous cancer patients have found themselves in a similar position to catherine as some NHS trusts have cancelled chemotherapy and routine cancer operations to free up beds and manpower to cope with the coronavirus crisis.
But now comes some good news — with the announcement that NHS cancer patients will receive treatment in private hospitals with immediate effect to reduce delays to their care.
It is estimated that the three private clinic networks — rutherford Health, Genesis care and Hca Uk — could treat around 5,000 patients per month.
Thousands more will be treated in other private hospitals. Professor Karol Sikora, chief medical officer at rutherford Health, said: ‘NHS england is instructing the local trusts to deal with the private clinics. This will cover every priority chemotherapy and radiotherapy NHS patient.
‘Most curable cancer patients will benefit from this arrangement, those who are dependent on immediate treatment and with a good chance of surviving. This comes at a crucial time, a year will have been lost in this horrid pandemic in terms of the backlog of cases it will cause.’
an NHS england guide published last month has suggested that doctors ‘categorise patients into priority groups one to six’, with top priority for chemotherapy, which is seen as ‘curative therapy with a high [greater than 50 per cent] chance of success’.
If a patient is receiving palliative cancer therapy with little chance of surviving more than a year, they will be given the lowest priority.
It is understood those in high priority categories, ranked one to three on that six-point scale, will be treated at the private clinics.
The new move has been welcomed by cancer experts.
‘The covid-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on our health service, and although the NHS is doing everything in its power to give cancer care as usual, the reality is difficult decisions are having to be made such as delaying treatment for some patients,’ says emlyn Samuel, cancer research uK’s head of policy.
One cancer specialist, who didn’t want to be named, adds: ‘We know from numerous studies that delays to breast cancer surgery or chemotherapy, for example, reduce cure rates and lower survival.
‘These risks far outweigh any of the potential risk from covid-19.’
NHS hospitals already have the ability to use the independent sector to treat NHS patients.
However, under guidance issued by NHS england last week, they are being encouraged to look to the private sector for help where cancer treatments are being delayed.
When the NHS uses a private hospital to carry out a procedure, the national tariff — how much hospitals are paid for carrying out certain treatments — is simply paid to the private hospital rather than the NHS.
Professor Sikora adds: ‘ across the country trusts are enabled to use their local private cancer providers. So, for example, at rutherford’s Newport centre we are dealing with the big cancer centre for South Wales in cardiff.’
an NHS source said it will be down to individual hospitals to decide whether to use the private sector for their cancer patients.
LOCAL NHS cancer services have been told they are able to use their local private providers if that makes most sense in their area, to make sure people who need it can get cancer care,’ the source told Good Health.
‘However, services are going to be structured differently in different parts of the country. This doesn’t mean that all cancer patients will receive a letter to say their treatment is now going to be in a private hospital — it will be down to trusts to decide how they want to organise their services.’
The idea is the NHS creates ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ covid-19 hospitals — those hospitals which are treating covid-19 patients, and those where other patients can be treated.
‘Independent healthcare providers are committed to working hand-in-hand with the NHS to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, including through the unprecedented arrangement to put nearly all private hospital capacity at the disposal of the NHS for as long as needed,’ says david Hare, chief executive of the Independent Health Providers Network.
an NHS spokesman said: ‘under a major deal struck with the independent hospital sector, the NHS will now have access to an extra 8,000 hospital beds across england, nearly 1,200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and over 8,000 other clinical staff.’
Macmillan cancer Support has also welcomed the co-operation.
Genesiscare said it is ready to treat NHS cancer patients at its 14 centres and that discussions are ‘ongoing’.
catherine hopes she will be among those to benefit. She says: ‘I totally get that covid patients need their treatment — but cancer patients need treatment, too — in many cases just to stay alive.’