More patients referred for cancer checks in England after virus disruption

A record number of almost 2.7 million people have been referred for cancer checks in England during the last 12 months, after figures fell sharply in 2020, although 30,000 are still waiting to start treatment for the disease.

New figures from the National Health Service, or NHS, suggest the number of people being referred for the disease has bounced back following disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spending on cancer awareness campaigns has doubled, noted The Guardian, and the NHS said that since March 2020, more than 4.7 million patients have been referred and more than half a million people have started treatment.

The number of patient cases being investigated by NHS England rose overall, from 2.4 million to 2.66 million last year.

Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said: "We are going further and faster than ever before in our ambitions to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage so that we can save more lives.

"We have seen record numbers of people coming forward for checks in the last year, but we know there are still at least 30,000 who haven't started treatment due to the pandemic, so it's vital that we keep these referral rates high."

The NHS said it is investing in extra diagnostic and treatment capacity to meet increasing demand, with staff working hard to roll out test services, cancer symptom hotlines, and innovative diagnostics.

Peter Johnson, NHS England national clinical director for cancer, said the pandemic meant fewer patients were seen, but noted that the NHS had always "continued to prioritize cancer care".

Sky News noted a recent report by the health and social care committee that said 3 million fewer people in the United Kingdom were invited for cancer screening tests between March and September 2020.

Earlier this year, the NHS set out an elective recovery plan that planned for around 2.3 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) to be used to expand diagnostics and 1.5 billion pounds for treatment, with a focus on cancer.

Johnson told the BBC Radio 4 Today program that cancer diagnosis numbers were rising at about 3 percent a year, "because of the ageing population and because fewer people were dying from other conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes".

He added: "The numbers of people that we're seeing for cancer tests have been going up at a faster rate than the numbers of people with cancer."

Medical charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, welcomed the increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact of the pandemic on cancer care, and urged the government to tackle the "chronic" problem of NHS understaffing in its 10-year cancer plan.