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Aug 2020
NHS figures show alarming backlog in urgent cancer referrals and long waits for routine operations in England
Patient numbers admitted for routine operations in England was down 67% in June compared with the same time last year, and patients attending accident and emergency units in July was also down by 30% on last year.
The number of people attending their GP with cancer symptoms and being urgently referred to a specialist is increasing, but still almost 20% lower than the same time last year. GPs made a total of 153,134 urgent cancer referrals in England in June, compared with 194,047 in the same month last year.
According to NHS England, over 92% of patients were having their cancer symptoms investigated within two weeks and 85,000 had started cancer treatment since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, Macmillan Cancer Support said numbers were “still worrying low”.
Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at the charity, said “These results from June suggest an alarming backlog of undiagnosed cancer and a growing number of people who are yet to start treatment. This could directly impact on many of these people’s chances of survival.”
Also in June, more patients than ever before – 1.85 million – were waiting longer than 18 weeks for planned surgery, such as hip and knee operations.
Figures from NHS England also show the number of patients waiting for more than 12 months for hospital treatment increased from just over 1,000 in June last year to 50,500 for the same month this year.
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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