Cancer early detection rates stall as patients 'too embarrassed' to trouble their GP with symptoms - The Telegraph

Efforts to save lives by detecting cancer earlier have stalled because British patients are fearful of wasting GPs’ time, a report has found.

A major review concludes that thousands of deaths could be avoided each year if the UK were to match international cancer standards, but that progress is being hampered due in part to embarrassment over troubling busy family doctors with what seem like minor symptoms.

The Health Foundation report said more than a fifth of patients are worried about wasting their doctor’s time.

Meanwhile nearly half put off checking out symptoms because of difficulty securing an appointment.

A shortage of scanners and specialist staff to operate them are also blamed in the document, written by the NHS’s former cancer chief Professor Sir Mike Richards.

Britain currently ranks 35th out of 37 comparable nations for availability of CT scanners, and 31st out of 36 for MRI scanners.

Sir Mike writes that the lag behind international best practice represents a failure of the NHS to meet its long-term promise to close the gap between other similar countries.

Theresa May said this year she wants the proportion of cancer patients whose disease is diagnosed at an early stage to rise to three in four.

However, the report found that the rate of improvement had all but stalled between 2015 and 2017, hovering at around 50 per cent.

Early diagnosis is crucial to a patient’s chances of surviving cancer.

However, targets to ensure swift treatment are increasingly being missed.

Nearly one in 11 people currently wait more than two weeks to be seen by a cancer specialist after an urgent referral.

This year the 93 per cent target for the proportion of people seen within two weeks was missed consistently between April and September for the first time in a decade.

Sir Mike said: “The NHS Cancer Plan in 2000 and all subsequent cancer strategies have set ambitions for England to match the best in Europe or the world in relation to cancer survival.

“Although progress has been made on many aspects of cancer, these aims have not been achieved.

“Every year thousands of deaths could be avoided if we achieved these goals.

“This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet of people falling from the sky every two weeks.”

According to the report, previous efforts to encourage GPs to refer more patients early for suspected cancer have been stymied by local managers attempting to keep costs down.

Limited capacity in hospital has also held back referrals.

Despite repeated statements of intent to close the gap between Britain and other advanced economies, a person diagnosed with colon cancer in the UK currently has a 60 per cent chance of surviving for five years, compared with a 71 per cent chance in Australia.

Five-year survival for lung cancer was 14 per cent compared to 21 per cent in Canada, meanwhile 85 per cent of UK women survive breast cancer for five years versus 89 per cent in Australia.

For prostate cancer, the British survival rate was 82 per cent, compared to 95 per cent in Australia.

“The NHS must change the way that care is currently organised to make it easier for people to be seen and diagnosed as quickly as possible, as we know this gives them the best chance of survival,” Sir Mike said.

Ruth Thorlby, assistant direct of policy at the Health Foundation, said cash alone would not yield the required improvement.

“Although investment is clearly needed in workforce and equipment, the experience of the past 20 years in cancer shows that staff need support, evidence and skills to implement change.”

Earlier this month officials announced a widescale review of cancer screening services following scandals where women in need of breast screening cervical checks were not contacted. 

It is estimated that between 135 and 270 women may have lost their lives as a result of the breast screening failure.

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