Agenda item

MISSING CANCER PATIENTS

This paper provides an update on possible missing cancer patients as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation which set out the impact of COVID-19 on Cancer treatment in NCL. The presentation was introduced by: Professor Derralynn Hughes, Haematologist at Royal Free and Dr Clare Stephens, GP and NCL CCG governing body member. Nasser Turabi, Managing Director for the NCL Cancer Alliance was also present for this agenda item. The presentation was as set out in the supplementary agenda pack at pages 35-44. The following arose from the discussion of the presentation:

a.    The JHOSC noted that cancer referrals were down 30% in January 2021 from January 2020, however this position had improved from a drop of 70% in April 2020. Cancer referrals were now back to pre-Covid levels, however it was cautioned that this was not the whole picture as it related to referrals from GP practices and that there were longer term considerations in other areas.

b.    The JHOSC raised concerns about the impact on staff from increased waiting times and backlogs and queried the extent to which staff may be close to being burnt-out. In response, NCL officers acknowledged these concerns and advised that there were not many opportunities to expand the staffing base as the field of cancer treatment was very specialised. This was also compounded by existing staffing shortages. The Committee were advised that Trusts were allowing staff to carry over leave and were also providing opportunities for them to take this leave. The JHOSC were advised that overall, cancer services were not of particular concern, as the prioritisation and funding for cancer treatment was there. Other NHS services were likely to be more affected due to the high volume of usage such as ENT or orthopaedics.  

c.    In relation to a follow-up question around why there was a shortage of anaesthetists, the JHOSC was advised that critical care doctors and anaesthetists received the same training and so when critical care was ramped up in the wake of Covid, anaesthetists were the first to be drafted into critical care.

d.    NCL officers assured the Committee that although there was a backlog and that this was more acute in community care settings, that everyone who need urgent cancer care would have access to it. Other, non-urgent, cases may need to be mitigated in order to prioritise the urgent cases.

e.    In response to a query about whether, in order to support those with longer term manageable issues, other services needed to be bought in from other providers, NCL reiterated that, overall, cancer was prioritised and urgent cancer services had been protected but that some people whose condition could be managed would see delays. It was suggested that having to bring in support from other areas and other providers was more applicable to other areas of NHS care.

f.     The JHOSC queried whether there were areas within NCL that could benefit from improved communications around the services that were offered and, conversely, those not available?. In response, it was noted that they had NCL were not aware of a big variation in the services required from area to area. It was suggested that, in relation to cancer treatments the numbers at a ward by ward basis would be quite small so it would be hard to draw any firm conclusions from analysing the data at that level.

g.    In response to a query around other areas of interest, NCL staff advised that there was good joint working on system awareness as a result of the joint-Covid working and that there would be opportunities going forward to exploit this joint working further.

h.    In relation to items for possible inclusion on the work programme, it was suggested that the committee may want to monitor how cancer outcomes from screening services changed over the next 12 months.

 

RESOLVED

 

Noted.

 

Supporting documents: