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As COVID-19 spreads and lockdowns continue in the U.K., more lives are reportedly being claimed by cancer.
Cancer patients are receiving diagnoses over Zoom — only to then be told life-saving procedures must remain on hold until the pandemic runs its course.
Treatment Delays May Cause Thousands More Deaths
Scientists warned about this eventuality.
In July, research indicated between 7,000 and 35,000 more deaths were possible within a year due to delays in cancer screenings and treatments, the BBC reported.
The study by DATA-CAN, the Health Care Research Hub (HDR UK) for Cancer, predicted varying outcomes depending on how long it takes to get service levels back to normal. The National Health Service (NHS) England told the BBC it was working on restoring services.
The NHS indicated there had been a 60% drop in people seeing their general practitioner and getting test referrals in April, according to the BBC.
Health Data Research UK data showed urgent cancer referrals at the end of May were down 45% from pre-emergency levels.
“There is a significant cohort of people who are very worried about coming anywhere near the NHS, because coming near the NHS means ‘I’m going to get Covid, and therefore I’m going to get very, very ill,'” Dr. Gary Marlowe told the BBC.
In addition to referrals being down, the number of cancer patients having procedures done has also decreased.
Over 100 people in the Belfast Health Trust have reportedly had cancer surgeries and other procedures cancelled due to rising COVID-19 hospital admissions.
The trust has cancelled the surgeries to expand COVID-19 intensive care unit teams.
The influx of COVID-19 patients to hospital emergency rooms has also caused most planned procedures at the Bristol Royal Infirmary to be cancelled, according to the Bristol Post.
However, most of the surgeries being cancelled there are elective, with more urgent treatments, such as cancer surgeries, reportedly going on as planned.
Robert Wolley, chief executive of University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust, which runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, told a trust board meeting on Friday the facility was under “significant pressure.”
“We are in excess of the first wave, without doubt,” he said.
U.K. Hospitals Under Pressure
That same pressure is being felt at hospitals throughout the U.K.
According to a BBC analysis, Northern Ireland’s health and social care system was already at a breaking point before the coronavirus pandemic.
With only 2,500 nurses, the system was already understaffed, and the situation has only worsened.
Even if there are enough beds for COVID-19 patients, specialists must be available to treat the patients, according to the BBC.
Democratic Unionist Party MP Carla Lockhart faced accusations of playing politics after urging the Stormont health minister to “get to grips” with Northern Ireland’s cancer crisis, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Lockhart said a constituent with cancer had contacted her after their operation was cancelled.
“These are lifesaving procedures that are vitally important to a better outcome,” Lockhart told the Telegraph. “Yet directed from the top of our health service, operations and other interventions are being cancelled. It is unjustifiable to place one serious illness against another.”
Cancer charities also voiced concerns after a drop in cancer referral appointments.
According to clinical oncologist Pat Price, guidelines regarding radiotherapy and COVID-19 indicated some patients should delay or avoid radiotherapy.
“I think it was a very high risk strategy,” she told the BBC, adding radiotherapy machines in some hospitals were “lying idle” when they could have been saving lives.
“It has been safe to give radiotherapy during Covid-19, we know that now,” she said.
“The machines are here but we haven’t been allowed to switch them on properly.”
However, an NHS England spokesperson said they wanted to find “the right balance” between increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and people’s cancer getting worse.
“And in particular, the risks and benefits of things like chemotherapy where, if the chemotherapy isn’t absolutely crucial but it might be dangerous in terms of increasing your risk of coronavirus,” he told the BBC. “This wasn’t a kind of attempt to police who should have treatment and who shouldn’t, it was more an attempt to try and help people think very clearly.”
One Woman’s Struggle
Kimberley Eccles, a 23-year-old care worker, has had three appointments cancelled due to COVID-19, according to the Daily Mail.
Eccles received her cancer diagnosis via Zoom.
Her Rhabdomyosarcoma, a tissue disease found in only 1% of adults, has now spread, and doctors have told Eccles she has only six months to live.
In June 2019, Eccles thought she had a mouth ulcer on her cheek, but when it grew, she made appointments for a consultation, biopsy and MRI.
But those appointments, which coincided with the beginning of lockdown in the spring, were cancelled, and the tumor reportedly grew.
Eccles scheduled an operation to remove the tumor after chemotherapy that failed to shrink it.
Despite the grim prognosis, she said she plans to keep fighting the disease and is raising funds to travel to the U.S. for treatment.
Have you had a medical appointment or procedure cancelled due to COVID-19? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
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