Three million people in the UK have missed out on cancer screenings since the start of the pandemic, it was revealed today.
This has resulted in about 350,000 people not being referred to hospital for urgent checks, Cancer Research UK said.
NHS figures show about 31,000 fewer patients across the UK started treatment for cancer between April and July compared with the same time last year, a reduction of 26 per cent.
This is due to a non-emergency scans having been suspended at the peak of the first wave and the fact that many patients “remain very anxious” about going into hospital, for fear of contracting Covid-19.
About 16,000 fewer people than normal have come forward for lung cancer checks, and 46,000 fewer for urological cancers such as prostate cancer.
Urgent referrals for suspected breast cancer are almost back at pre-Covid levels but about 46,000 fewer patients were referred between March and July.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Without a doubt, Covid-19 has had a really devastating impact on cancer services and patients.”
She said cancer patients were desperate not to become “collateral damage” of the pandemic and urged the Government to invest heavily in staff and new CT and MRI scanners, saying £260 million of investment was needed in the next three to five years. One in 10 CT scanners and a third of MRI scanners are more than a decade old.
Separate research by Macmillan Cancer Support found that about 6,400 Londoners a month are not coming forward for cancer checks. Its analysis of the latest NHS cancer waiting lists found Londoners were less likely to seek a GP referral for hospital checks than people in the rest of the country with suspected cancer symptoms.
Comparing August with the same month last year, the number of people being seen by a specialist for suspected cancer following an urgent referral was down by 19 per cent in London and 15 per cent across England.
A total of 26,700 Londoners were checked — 6,400 fewer than a year earlier. The number of people starting treatment for cancer was 25 per cent below 2019 levels in London — 2,400 rather than 3,200 — a bigger fall than the 22 per cent drop nationwide.
However, the number of Londoners coming forward for checks has been increasing monthly since the end of the first wave of coronavirus.
Sara Bainbridge, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Disruption to cancer diagnosis and treatment is having a traumatic impact on cancer patients’ lives.”
She added: “The backlog of patients continues to grow. The implications of this are extremely worrying.
“It is critical the Government urgently puts plans and resources in place to increase capacity and protect the NHS from further disruption as we stare down the barrel of a second wave.”