‘35k excess cancer deaths’ because of treatment delays

UP to 35,000 more cancer patients could die in a year due to treatment delays caused by the pandemic, experts fear.

The extent of excess deaths has been predicted by the UK’s leading cancer data research hub.

Modelling by Data-Can, which collects figures on cancer treatments and is linked to leading universities, suggests the UK could see at least 18,000 more cancer deaths than normal – rising to 35,000 in the worst-case scenario.

The horrific toll is a stark illustration of the indirect impact of the pandemic on the nation’s health, with many appointments and procedures postponed as hospitals prioritised treatment of Covid-19.

Separate polling today suggests the aftermath of the crisis will be felt for years to come, with half of patients still scared of going to hospital even as the threat of the virus recedes.

Mike Birtwistle, health policy expert at the Incisive Health consultancy, which polled 2,000 British adults, said: ‘The cancelled appointments, tests and treatments really matter.

‘We are facing a coronavirus timebomb which could result in poor health outcomes, pain and misery for years to come.

‘Levels of coronavirus may be falling but public fear is still very real.

‘I fear an explosion of illhealth is inevitable.’

The cancer mortality figures are highlighted tonight in an episode of Panorama on the BBC called Britain’s Cancer Crisis.

Urgent referrals for cancer care have dropped significantly and treatments have been delayed or cancelled.

According to Data-Can, urgent cancer referrals up to the end of May were down by 44.5 per cent on pre-coronavirus levels.

Professor Pat Price, a clinical oncologist interviewed by Panorama, said in some hospitals radiotherapy machines were ‘lying idle which could have saved lives’.

She said: ‘It has been safe to give radiotherapy during Covid-19, we know that now... the machines are here, we haven’t been allowed to switch them on properly. We were told not to do this.

‘We are looking at a huge number of unavoidable deaths and we need to address it because there are patients we can cure and we want to get on with it, but we haven’t been allowed to do it.’

Meanwhile, one NHS GP told Panorama that urgent referrals to cancer consultants during the peak of lockdown were down 60 per cent in April.

There is now a major backlog for screenings – meaning diagnoses could be delayed or missed.

Cases featured in the programme include Kelly Smith, a 31-year-old mother of one from Manchester, who died of bowel cancer last month.

Interviewed before her death, she told how her chemotherapy was having positive results but was paused for 12 weeks at the start of lockdown – meaning the cancer was able to spread once again.

NHS England defended the situation, saying there was a ‘balance’ to be struck between treating cancer and the risk of patients coming into hospital and catching the virus.