Grim toll of 'missed' cancers: 100,000 patients diagnosed with the disease at a late stage in A&E when a cure is unlikely, shocking new five year figures suggest

17/06/2024

More than 100,000 patients have been diagnosed with cancer in A&E over the past five years, alarming new figures suggest.

Experts warn those picked up this way are often in the later stages of disease, when it is more expensive and difficult to treat and survival chances are lower.

It comes amid record dissatisfaction with GPs and long waits for diagnostic tests, with patients often struggling to be seen.

Cancer Research UK described the situation as 'unacceptable' and warned it could impact patients' chances of beating the disease.

Meanwhile, the Catch Up With Cancer campaign said late diagnoses in A&E are a 'sure-fire sign that our national approach to cancer simply isn't working.'

Experts warn cancers picked up in A&E way are often in the later stages, when it is more expensive and difficult to treat and survival chances are lower

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Patients should ordinarily be referred for cancer checks after seeing their family doctor with early symptoms, rather than when they are so sick they have had to attend an emergency department.

Some 24,159 patients were diagnosed after going to A&E from 2018 to 2023 at the 29 NHS acute trusts in England that responded to Freedom of Information requests.

Extrapolated to all trusts in England, including those that failed to supply data, the true number is likely to be as high as 106,000.

Of the trusts that responded, Kings College Hospital in London recorded the highest number of diagnoses' following A&E referral, with 4,269 between 2018 and 2023.

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust saw nearly 32 times as many patients diagnosed in A&E in 2023 (587) as in 2018 (18) — the largest jump of trusts that responded.

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Studies show that an early cancer diagnosis is crucial, with every month of delay in starting treatment typically reducing survival chances by 10 per cent.

For example, nine in ten people diagnosed with bowel cancer early, at stage one, will survive for five years or more but this plummets to just one in ten among those diagnosed late, at stage four.

Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health and social care secretary, who submitted the FOI requests [must keep], said: 'More than 100,000 patients were diagnosed with cancer in A&E over the past five years- and I'm one of them.

'We have more patients diagnosed in A&E than any other comparable country- which shows we're catching it far too late.

'I was lucky, but far too many cancer patients are left waiting dangerously long for tests and scans, which has a cost in lives.

'Labour's fully-funded plan will get the NHS catching cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster, so cancer doesn't need to be a death sentence.'

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: 'Too many people are being diagnosed with cancer late, and in some cases, only when their symptoms become severe enough to prompt a visit A&E.

'This is unacceptable. We know that catching cancer as early as possible is crucial for improving outcomes.

Studies show that an early cancer diagnosis is crucial, with every month of delay in starting treatment typically reducing survival chances by 10 per cent.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with roughly 56,000 cases diagnosed per year

Prostate cancer follows closely behind with 52,000 cases diagnosed in men each year

'Years of underinvestment in NHS cancer services has left patients - along with their family and loved ones - facing prolonged and anxious waits to find out if they have cancer and to begin treatment.

'Making the reforms needed to transform cancer services in England is possible, but we need the next UK government to show bold leadership on cancer and commit to a long-term strategy across cancer research and care.'

GPs made 260,108 urgent cancer referrals in April, up from 254,594 in March and also up year-on-year from 218,324 in April 2023.

The proportion of patients waiting no longer than 62 days in April from an urgent suspected cancer referral or consultant upgrade to their first definitive treatment for cancer was 66.6 per cent, down from 68.7 per cent in March and below the target of 85 per cent.

According to NHS England data, some 73.5 per cent of patients in England urgently referred for suspected cancer in April were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days.

This is down from 77.3 per cent the previous month and is, therefore, below the target of 75 per cent.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer and kills 16,800 Brits every year

Lunch cancer, while not the most common form of the disease, is one of the biggest cancer killers in the UK with a survival rate of just 10 per cent

Leading oncologist Professor Pat Price, co-founder of the Catch Up With Cancer campaign and chair of Radiotherapy UK, said: 'That so many cancers are being picked up at A&E is a sure-fire sign that our national approach to cancer simply isn't working.

'The whole cancer system is creaking. That's why we need a dedicated national Plan for Cancer.

'Obviously, I welcome efforts to boost screening and diagnosis.

'However, boosting diagnosis on its own isn't enough if we then simply add the patients to an already far too long waiting list for treatment.

'That is why I urge all politicians concerned to accept the need to boost treatment capacity too, particularly in areas such as radiotherapy.'

A Conservative spokesman said cancer survival rates are continue to improve, with the disease being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often.

10-year cancer survival rates for many common cancers have now reached above the 50 per cent mark, and experts say further improvements could be made in the next decade

But he added: 'We know there is more to do, which is why we have recruited record numbers of doctors and nurses and will deliver 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors through our long-term NHS workforce plan.

'We have also opened 160 Community Diagnostic Centres and will deliver millions of scans, tests and checks every year to speed up results and start treatment more quickly.

'Where Labour run the NHS in Wales, patients wait longer to start cancer treatment.

'Their NHS promises are completely unfunded - they cannot deliver £6 billion worth of scanners with less than £1 billion of funding.'