“Shopping around” for treatment is not a solution to cancer backlog

The covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated extensive backlogs in the diagnostic and treatment pathways for patients with cancer in the UK. Nationally, only 65% of patients receive treatment within two months of a primary care referral for a suspected cancer (the target is that at least 85% of patients are treated within this timeframe), with substantial regional variation.1 In its report on NHS cancer services, the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee acknowledged that the ongoing disruption of cancer treatment resulting from the covid-19 pandemic is likely to result in substantial loss of life years.23 Although the target to clear the cancer backlog has been moved back by a year to March 2023,4 even this time frame seems optimistic5 given that 57% of hospital trusts failed to meet the two month wait time target in 2016.6Providing timely cancer diagnosis and treatment is challenging. The diagnostic pathway is complex, requiring…
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