Cancer patients in England may die early if doctors and government ministers cannot come to an agreement over pay, experts have warned.
Many appointments — including thousands for cancer — have been postponed over the last year as ongoing strikes have kept various staff groups out of hospitals and on the picket line.
Some 36,000 cancer appointments were delayed between December 2022, when industrial action began, and September 2023, the Guardian reported Saturday.
And thousands of patients had appointments delayed three times or more last year because of strikes, data requested under freedom of information laws showed.
Delays are a particular risk for patients with certain types of cancer considered “less survivable,” cancer experts told the publication. This includes cancers of the lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach.
Before the strikes, the proportion of people in England who lived more than 5 years with one of these cancers was already low.
Anna Jewell, who chairs the country’s Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, said: “These rapidly advancing cancers are currently difficult or impossible to treat at later stages, so delays to diagnosis and treatments can severely limit options for patients who then face even worse survival prospects.
“Disruption to care for patients could have a severe impact on life expectancy for people who are faced with an urgent diagnosis like a less survivable cancer. The situation is critical for thousands of people who may find their treatments delayed or cancelled due to the reduced capacity of the health service.”
She called on government and union leaders to come to a resolution as soon as possible.
Noting that the country was struggling with its cancer performance before strikes began, Professor Pat Price, who chairs Radiotherapy UK, added that “years of underinvestment” had left cancer services vulnerable.
Who’s on strike?
Many of the country’s doctors are halfway through a six-day strike — the longest ever walk-out by staff in England’s public health system, the National Health Service (NHS).
Junior doctors, who are fully qualified and have been working in hospitals for up to eight years, are critical staff present throughout hospital departments.
Over the last year they, as well as nurses, ambulance workers, senior doctors and other healthcare staff have walked out during pay disputes.
Junior doctors argue better pay and working conditions are needed to recruit and retain staff to the country’s overstretched medical workforce.
But ministers say the group’s pay demands are too high.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of industry group the NHS Confederation said in a statement earlier this week that strikes represented a “serious” risk for patients across the NHS.
“To face almost 150 hours of continuous stoppages is a serious and unprecedented risk — and one that NHS leaders and their staff have never experienced before,” he said. “The good news is that the NHS has again prepared extensively and has had to become adept at planning for strikes.”
Like previous walkouts, the six days of action mean hospitals will have reduced planned care to preserve emergency services.
“That means more delays for patients who have faced lengthy waits for routine treatment,” he said.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of hospital industry group NHS Providers said on Friday that overstretched staff were already under pressure as winter illnesses spread.
“With longstanding, severe staff shortages — more than 121,000 vacancies today across NHS trusts in England — staff morale is low as heavy workloads take their toll,” he said. “At the last count, stress, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses were behind more than 27% of all sickness absences across the NHS.”
He called for an end to the drawn-out pay dispute for the benefit of both staff and patients.
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