Tens of thousands of cancer sufferers denied treatment in UK during pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the dire situation facing tens of thousands of UK cancer patients. At the end of December 2020—the worst month for medical backlogs since records began in 2007—almost 4.52 million patients in England were waiting to start hospital treatment. 224,205 people had been waiting more than a year.
Tens of thousands of cancer sufferers are among those waiting. Hundreds of them will die needlessly because of the Conservative government’s criminal response to the pandemic.
An article by the Cancer Research UK charity highlights the increasing numbers of patients waiting for cancer referrals, diagnoses and treatments. The article notes that, since the onset of the pandemic, waiting times for screening, tests and treatment have been steadily increasing. Roughly 40,000 fewer people started treatment for cancer in 2020 compared with previous years. According to Jon Shelton, senior cancer intelligence manager at the charity, the drop in numbers of cancer patients is primarily driven by a lack of diagnoses.