The disruption to cancer services during the pandemic has been a global phenomenon. In the UK, it has amplified structural failings in the delivery of cancer diagnosis and treatment that existed long before lockdown restrictions started in March 2020.
A report by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) in April 2019 showed that the UK had worse survival rates than many western countries due to inadequate early cancer detection and a lack of access to the best treatments. The report also acknowledged a shortage of cancer treatment specialists and that the target for treating 85 per cent of cancer patients within 62 days of an urgent GP referral had been missed every year since 2014.
