19pc fewer cancer patients received chemo at height of first wave
ALMOST 20 per cent fewer cancer patients received chemotherapy at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, official data show.
Figures released by Public Health England reveal that 11,000 fewer people with cancer in England started chemotherapy for the first time between April and July 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.
The overall number of people with cancer having chemotherapy in May dropped by 19 per cent compared with the previous year; in April, it had dropped by 16 per cent.
Treatment given orally, rather than through a drip or as an injection, also increased during this period, from 25 to 30 per cent, underlining the disruption caused as the pandemic changed the way some people received treatment.
A reduction in treatment was most prominent in older groups. Among 70 to 79-year-olds cancer treatment fell by nearly a quarter (24 per cent) in April 2020 compared with the previous year. For over-80s, treatment dropped by 27 per cent over the same period.
Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Today’s data is further evidence of the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on cancer care, with many people facing agonising disruption to diagnosis and treatment.
“It’s crucial the Government recognises the challenges that lie ahead for cancer care and provides the vital support the NHS needs.” Ms Bainbridge added that funding in tomorrow’s Budget would allow the NHS to do “whatever it takes” to deliver cancer care “swiftly and safely”, “including access to private hospitals, support for hardworking and exhausted staff, and ongoing adaptations for care.
“We also urge anyone experiencing cancer symptoms to contact their GP and attend scheduled medical appointments,” she said.
In March 2020, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence told oncologists to consider warning cancer patients to stay away from hospitals. As a result, potentially thousands of treatments were postponed, as well as those which could not take place in hospitals overwhelmed with Covid patients.