Cancer referrals fall by half at Midlands NHS trust
Cancer referrals have fallen by half at a West Midlands trust as health bosses warned the country faces a crucial two-month period to restore the NHS.
Toby Lewis, chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (SWBT), said people not attending GPs due to coronavirus pressures had led to a 50 per cent fall in cancer referrals since the start of April.
He said that cancer treatments had continued through the NHS using private hospitals, but that the impact of the virus on cancer care was likely to have some "very, very unfortunate effects".
During the early stages of the pandemic, some cancer patients across the country had to wait for treatment due to Covid-19 patients being prioritised.
Mr Lewis said: "We have seen about a 50 per cent drop in cancer referrals over the last month, linked of course, to people not presenting to general practice.
"We have managed to keep cancer treatments going with the use of private hospitals and institutions working together.
"Of course, when we look back in hindsight there may be some very, very unfortunate effects, but certainly we are open to provide cancer care and are providing cancer care at the moment."
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Mr Lewis said in the last two weeks there had been a "significant fall" in patients in hospital with Covid-19, allowing the NHS to shift its focus to supporting people and staff in care homes.
He also said that following a sharp fall in people attending A&E departments for reasons other than coronavirus, the numbers had started to rise again in the last seven days.
"There is still a long way to go to restore the NHS over May and June to the sort of volume in care that we were able to provide before, and the volume of demand that patients were asking for before," he said.
Mr Lewis said the huge ramp up in testing nationally had been "very visible" in the West Midlands, with SWBT performing well in excess of 1,500 tests each day at the Midland Met and other hospitals.
Meanwhile, hospital trusts across the region have received hundreds of enrollees for research trials to find a vaccine.
