GPs report ‘perfect storm’ of problems leading to 20,000 drop in urgent referrals for lung cancer

[2greys]

Reluctance to attend hospital tests and come forward about symptoms could be contributing to delays in lung cancer diagnosis, a Cancer Research UK survey of GPs across the UK shows.

The study of 1,000 GPs has helped to explain a decline in both diagnosis and treatment rates for the disease, with urgent referrals dropping by around a third (34%) since March last year.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “We’re hugely concerned for people who have symptoms but haven’t come forward or are putting off further tests.”

Roughly 20,300 fewer people in England were urgently referred for suspected lung cancer between March 2020 and January 2021 compared to the same period the year before, while 9% fewer started treatment between April 2020 and January 2021.

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[hypercat54]

It's probably the difficulty of getting a doctors appointment and their failure to diagnose!

[Oshgosh]

Ouldthis be attributable to 1 the difficulty of getting GP appointments

2 the fact that appointments are mainly phone calls.

?

[beech]

Difficulty seeing or even talking to a GP, plus the Consultants being diverted to Covid management in hospitals so less clinics running anyway. As it says, the perfect storm for missing a diagnosis.

I had a 5 week wait under the cancer fast track “2 week wait” for an appointment to check out a lump (so not lung related) and that was in between lockdowns last year. There were less appointments to reduce the number of people in the waiting area to allow for the 2 metre spacing, plus cleaning in between patients.

[Izb1 in reply to beech]

I just cant see that all doctors/consultants are diverted to covid management and have wondered what they are all doing everyday as no clinics running ? I do hope that your lump was benign and you are doing ok x

[helen1946]

My husband attended a clinic with a growth in his ear nov last year told two week to get biopsy ring if not heard by beginning of dec rang the hospital broadgreen tol they would let us know when he could attend 4 months later still nothing 2 yrs ago i also had a lesion wrongly diagnosed as a basel cell carcinoma also not considered urgent when finally called in for treatment after removal was told their mistake it was in fact a Very Rare baso-squamous cell carcinoma. Aggresive and could spread anywhere in the body lucky for me the surgeon had taken a larger piece of my ear as he was suspicious so rare it had to be followed up every 12 weeks for three yrs for whole body check but quess what nothing done for last 12 months getting phone call in a weeks time so people are coming foreward but not getting treatment as they must be assessing from a distance but medicine does not work this way. In our small collection of friend 2 ladies both diagnosed with cancer last may could not get their chemo and both died by august and sept there will be very many others we will never hear of. All victims of this epidemic. My hubby has emphysema a.f. cardiac failure and hypoxic brain damage but gets on with it.we are lucky we have each other

[Ergendl in reply to helen1946]

Yes, a lady who attended our church, died of cancer in February after it returned last year and she could not get the treatment she needed to stop the breast cancer invading the rest of her body. She had been a nurse, so she knew precisely what was going to happen. What an awful last year of life she must have had.

[Izb1]

I do think its time to get our lives back on track. All the medical health people should have their jabs along with the anybody attending hospital. If they continue to keep to the rules, hand washing, distance and masks there should be no reason to not get back to normal. Its a disgrace that people with suspected cancer should have to wait at all. The gp should fast track this, which they dont and referrals should do the same. I dont understand the delay when the hospitals clinics are hardly running. Cancer doesnt wait and neither should we x