22
Oct 2019
Blood cancer charity warns thousands of patients in England could be unnecessarily dying through late diagnosis
Cancer charity Bloodwise analysed data from the NHS and found that 28 per cent of patients are diagnosed with the disease only after receiving emergency treatment for their symptoms.
Figures show that in the UK there are around 40,000 new cases of blood cancer, including lymphoma, myeloma and leukaemia, each year.
If patients are diagnosed after visiting their GP, around 77 per cent of patients will survive for three years. However, the survival rate plummets to just 40 per cent of patients who are diagnosed following an emergency admission. This is due to symptoms developing over a few weeks and becoming more severe as the number of immature white blood cells increases.
The charity has now called on the NHS to take “urgent action” as the delays are “costing a significant number of lives a year”.
The charity’s chief executive, Gemma Peters, said “This report lays bare how thousands of people in England with blood cancer are being diagnosed too late.
“In most cases, blood cancer symptoms start several weeks or even several months before they need emergency treatment.
“So the fact that around three out of ten people are ending up in A&E shows that patients are slipping through the net.”
Ms Peters added that blood cancer kills 15,000 patients each year and is currently the UK’s third biggest cause of cancer deaths, killing more than all other forms of cancer except bowel and lung.
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of 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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