Reports of a sharp rise in long waits for cancer therapy in last four years

Recent analysis by the BBC has shown that the number of patients waiting longer than the 62 day target time for cancer therapy in the last year has exceeded 67,000 across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland – twice as many as the same period in 2017-18.

 

The national cancer director for NHS England said staff were striving to catch up on the backlog of care, but experts have warned that the problems could be putting patients at risk.

 

Macmillan Cancer Support’s Steven McIntosh, said the delays were “traumatic” and people were living “day-by-day with fear and anxiety”.

 

He added that the situation was “unacceptable” and could even be having an impact on the chances of survival.

 

Describing the NHS as “chronically short-staffed”, he said “The NHS doesn’t have the staff it needs to diagnose cancer, to deliver surgery and treatment, to provide care, support and rehabilitation.”

 

He warned that there would be further delays and disruption if NHS spending did not at least rise in line with inflation in the November budget.

 

Macmillan has also raised concerns there could still be potentially thousands of missing cases.

 

Disruption to services at the start of the pandemic and people not coming forward with symptoms because of fear of Covid or not wanting the burden the NHS has been blamed.

 

Dame Cally Palmer, NHS England’s national cancer director, said the “hard work” of staff was helping the system to catch up in terms of getting people in for checks, adding that she was determined to ensure improvements were made in terms of diagnosis and treatment.

 

“We will not stop in our efforts to catch cancers earlier and save more lives.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events.  Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

 

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

 

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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