Doncaster health bosses reveal concerns as some cancer referrals and screenings still not back to normal

Officials say referrals for treatment for most cancers are now back to pre-coronavirus levels. But levels for upper gastrointestinal treatments, known as UGI, and urology, which looks at the urinary system, are still lagging below previous levels.

And there are concerns over people not attending breast cancer screening.

Andrew Russell, Doncaster chief nurse, told governors of the Doncaster NHS Clinical Commissioning Group it was important to acknowledge the ongoing pressures and delays that had been caused by the coronavirus.

Karen Leivers, head of strategy and delivery, said Doncaster had dipped in terms of its breast cancer screening since the second quarter of last year. Although screening was paused during the initial lockdown, it had resumed.

She added there had been a dip in cancer treatment referrals for Urology and UGI.

Dr Marco Pieri locality lead for North Doncaster, said some of the reduction would be due to fewer people presenting themselves with symptoms. He said surgery would hopefully increase, but palliative care for those who were dying would also go up until Doncaster returned to early treatment and diagnosis.

"There are areas worse than us, but it’s heartbreaking, really,” he said.

He also expressed concern about the lower numbers attending breast cancer screening.

He said he had looked at records of 20 patients with cancer, and found two had definitely been affected by delays in May and June.

But he added: “After the initial shock, my feeling is that we are back on track to deliver services.”

CCG chairman Dr David Crichton said across South Yorkshire, cancer figures were 500 down on the previous year.

He said: “Those are 500 patients we potentially have to find, who have cancer out there.”

He said it was important to reiterate services were still continuing to operate, and it was important that patients continued to come forward if they had symptoms, to seek medical attention, so they could be diagnosed earlier, treated better and have improved survival chances.

A recovery plan is in place to bring services back to pre-Covid 19 levels, supported by the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Cancer Alliance.

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