Almost 50,000 cancer diagnoses missed
‘Cancer patients are stuck, waiting in a system that doesn’t have the capacity to treat them fast enough’
A CHARITY has sounded the alarm over almost 50,000 “missing” cancer diagnoses, warning that the NHS may not cope when growing numbers come forward for checks.
Research by Macmillan Cancer Support shows a “staggering” backlog of cases that have yet to be diagnosed, with concern that services are buckling even before the unmet need is addressed.
The charity calculated the number of so-called missed diagnoses by assessing data from across the UK and finding the difference between expected and observed cancer diagnoses.
It estimated that more than 47,000 people have “missed” a diagnosis since the first lockdown.
Previous studies have estimated that between 20,000 and 40,000 diagnoses had been missed during the pandemic.
But the new data suggest a higher figure, with concern that too many people who should have been diagnosed in the past 18 months have yet to have symptoms checked. Next week, Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, is expected to announce a recovery plan for almost six million people on NHS waiting lists, to attempt to prioritise the most urgent cases.
Macmillan Cancer Support said the scale of the cancer care backlog is “still to hit the NHS”, as it warned that further disruption from Covid-19 this winter could see the number of missing diagnoses increase further.
It also suggested that the early signs of improvement in clearing the backlog over summer “may have stalled”.
Macmillan said it is “deeply concerned” about how cancer services will cope when the patients eventually receive their diagnoses.
It raised concern about a “severe shortage” of cancer nurses and estimated that the NHS in England would need to work at 110 per cent capacity for 13 months to catch up with the number of people who should have started cancer treatment since March 2020.
Steven Mcintosh, the executive director of advocacy and communications at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Cancer patients are stuck, waiting in a system that doesn’t have the capacity to treat them fast enough, let alone deal with the backlog of thousands who have yet to come forward.
“The Government has promised an NHS elective recovery plan. This must show how it will tackle spiralling pressures on cancer services.
“It has never been more crucial to boost NHS capacity to treat and support everybody with cancer, so people receive the critical care they need.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Cancer diagnosis and treatment is an absolute priority and nearly half a million people were checked for cancer in August and September this year.”
An NHS spokesman said: “Throughout the pandemic cancer has been a priority, and diagnosis and treatment numbers have been back at pre-pandemic levels since spring, with record numbers of people being referred for investigation over the last six months.”