Cancer survival rates ‘may worsen’

CANCER survival in England could “go into reverse”, MPs have warned. Many lives will end “prematurely” due to a combination of a reluctance of some people to come forward and seek help for symptoms and delayed treatments during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

Due to disruption caused by the pandemic, more people will not have their cancer diagnosed until it has reached a later stage – so it is harder to cure or treat, according to the Health and Social Care Committee of MPs.

Even in the latest wave of Covid19, “vital” cancer surgeries have been cancelled which suggests the NHS is “still not able to access sufficient Covid-free treatment capacity to safeguard treatments and address the backlog”, they said.

MPs on the committee warned that staffing shortfalls are “jeopardising” progress on diagnosing more cancers at an early stage.

The committee’s report on cancer services warns that there is no detailed plan to address shortages of clinical oncologists, consultant pathologists, radiologists and specialist cancer nurses.

Jeremy Hunt, chair of the committee and a former health secretary, said: “Earlier cancer diagnosis is the key to improving overall survival rates; however, progress is being jeopardised by staff shortages which threaten both diagnosis and treatment. We do not believe that the NHS is on track to meet the Government’s target on early cancer diagnosis by 2028.

“We are further concerned at the damaging and prolonged impact of the pandemic on cancer services with a real risk that gains made in cancer survival will go into reverse.

“A mother told us of her 27-yearold daughter’s five-month struggle to get a diagnosis of cancer – tragically, she died three weeks after it came. Unfortunately, many more lives will almost certainly end prematurely without earlier diagnosis and prompt treatment. That is why we are calling on the Government and the NHS to act now to address gaps in the cancer workforce upon which success depends. To date, we have found little evidence of a serious effort to do so.”

The report states that despite NHS efforts to protect cancer services during the pandemic, 36,000 fewer people in England began cancer treatment compared to previous years. Three million fewer people in the UK were invited for cancer screening between March and September 2020, while, between March 2020 and March 2021, 326,000 fewer people in England received an urgent referral for suspected cancer and 4.6 million fewer key diagnostic tests were carried out, the report adds.

“The effect of reluctance to come forward, late diagnosis and delayed treatment will almost certainly mean that many lives will end prematurely,” the MPs warned. Witnesses told MPs that they had to “ration treatment” and likened working in cancer services during the pandemic to “working 25 years ago”.

MPs also highlighted that thanks to pressures on GPs, family doctors may not spot as many potential cancer cases. They said: “Without significant additional efforts, we conclude there is a real risk that the gains in cancer survival will reverse.”

The MPs said that the best way to improve cancer survival rates would be to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage, but added that this will be difficult without sufficient staffing.