Record 2.7m people are referred for cancer checks

A RECORD-BREAKING 2.7 million people were referred for cancer checks over the last year, NHS England has said, after figures suggested the pandemic saw numbers dramatically decline in 2020.

The number of patients receiving treatment for the disease has also risen, by 2,000 since the start of the pandemic, according to the health service.

According to data from NHS England and NHS Improvement, referrals for suspected cancer remained at around 116 per cent of pre-pandemic levels even during the peak of the Omicron wave, and rose overall from 2.4 million to 2,657,316. Around 315,000 patients also started treatment compared with 313,000 before Covid-19 struck, they added.

Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said there were still 30,000 people who have not yet started treatment due to the pandemic, but that the latest figures suggested progress. “We are going further and faster than ever before in our ambitions to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage so that we can save more lives,” she said.

“We have seen record numbers of people coming forward for checks in the last year, but we know there are still at least 30,000 who haven’t started treatment due to the pandemic, so it’s vital that we keep these referral rates high.”

In order to meet the increasing demand for cancer checks, the NHS said it has expanded its services’ diagnostic capabilities across the country in a range of ways. Facilities such as one-stop shops for tests, mobile clinics and cancer symptom hotlines are helping to ensure people are diagnosed and treated as early as possible, the health service said.

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England national clinical director for cancer, said: “We know the pandemic meant that at first we saw fewer patients, but in the last year GPs have been referring people for investigation in record numbers and have been working hard to make sure people with worrying symptoms can be seen. The NHS has continued to prioritise cancer care throughout the pandemic.”

In a recent report, the Health and Social Care Committee said three million fewer people in the UK were invited for cancer screening between March and September 2020. And between March 2020 and March 2021, 326,000 fewer people in England received an urgent referral for suspected cancer.