UK NHS facing a cancer catastrophe

[Eldorado]

The NHS is facing the “biggest cancer catastrophe ever to hit it” according to a leading oncologist who said a new report published today reveals a devastating picture of cancer services on “life-support” with a deadly regional cancer lottery of waiting times and a huge patient backlog.

Estimated “missing” urgent referrals for suspected cancer during the pandemic could be as high as 740,000 while between 35,000 and 60,000 cancer patients missed their first treatment since the start of the pandemic, the National Audit Office (NAO) report on NHS backlogs and waiting times in England found.

https://inews.co.uk/news/health/nhs-facing-biggest-ever-cancer-crisis-due-to-deadly-cocktail-of-delays-and-growing-backlog-1327805

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/01/biggest-cancer-catastrophe-ever-hit-nhs-740000-potential-cases/

“Cancer services in certain areas are on life support and failure to act will only lead to an unmitigated disaster because every 4 weeks of delay can mean a 10 per cent reduction in cancer survival. We need the Government to urgently outline how additional funding will be spent on cancer treatments, backlog busting technologies, like radiotherapy, and the cancer workforce. Cancer patients don’t have the luxury of time, if we don’t act more people will die who don’t need to.”

[+ouija ouija]

So in the rush to protect people from dying of covid we are condemning others to die from cancer(and other diseases, I'm sure).

[L.A.T.1961]

Its reasonable to expect treatment problems given the effect covid has caused within the NHS but I am surprised, if things are as bad as suggested, there has not already been a measurable increase in the death rate from various cancers. 

So far there only seems to be predictions of future problems yet covid has been playing havoc with surgery appointments and hospital visits for more than 18 months.

Based on the "4 weeks of delay can mean a 10 per cent reduction in cancer survival" and an 90-ish week covid disruption affect then the reduction in survival rates should have reached 100% and death for many patients.  

There seems to be a mismatch between estimates of problems and actual effect? 

Maybe the NHS has had to improve there productivity and efficiency during the last 18 months or so and this explains things?

[L.A.T.1961]

3 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

So in the rush to protect people from dying of covid we are condemning others to die from cancer(and other diseases, I'm sure).

Covid treatment will always be a juggling act with other health areas. 

But there will have been an inevitable cost to prioritising covid prevention.  

[acidhead]

Best healthcare system ever.. envy of the world!

[Eldorado]

1 hour ago, acidhead said:

Best healthcare system ever.. envy of the world!

'Bursting at the seams': Full ICUs are creating a dangerous ER backlog and forcing hospitals to cancel surgeries

Michael Kagan, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says the cancerous lymph nodes in his neck are like a "ticking time bomb." But there's little he can do.

MountainView Hospital, where he was scheduled to have his procedure last week, has put all surgeries requiring an overnight stay on hold as Covid-19 case counts and hospitalizations climb, according to a statement from spokesperson Jennifer McDonnell.

"I'm not getting any treatment so on any given day it could spread to another part of my body or it can grow and cause a much bigger problem," Kagan told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Tuesday. "I'm just living with a time bomb and I'm just letting it tick down, basically."

With Covid-19 case numbers surging across the United States and many unvaccinated Americans falling ill, the number of available hospital beds has been dwindling in parts of the country.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/14/us/full-icus-summer-covid-surge/index.html

[Eldorado]

In chronic pain, Mary O’Donnell can’t get around much. At most, she manages to walk for a short time in her kitchen or garden before she has to sit down. “It’s just frustrating at this point,” said Ms. O’Donnell, 80, who lives in Aloha, Ore. “I’m really depressed.”

She had been preparing for back surgery scheduled for Aug. 31, hoping the five-hour procedure would allow her to be more active. But a day before the operation, at OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center, she learned it had been canceled.

“Nope, you can’t come, our hospital is filling up,” she said she was told.

Faced with a surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations in Oregon, the hospital has not yet rescheduled her surgery. “I don’t know what is going to happen,” Ms. O’Donnell said, worrying that her ability to walk might be permanently impaired if she is forced to wait too long.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/health/covid-hospitals-elective-surgeries.html

[+and-then]

5 hours ago, acidhead said:

Best healthcare system ever.. envy of the world!

Ours used to be.  We're seeing the same kind of backlogs created by fear of trying to go to the hospital because people don't want to risk becoming infected with SARS-COV-2.  We're about 20 months in on this pandemic.  In the initial wave Trump sent hospital ships to NY and helped fund field hospitals for the overflow and they were basically ignored.  The two ships had nearly zero patients.  

After TWENTY MONTHS of wave after wave, there's no legitimate excuse for our system to still be struggling to meet the demand.  Field hospitals can be erected in days and they can be used for non-covid cases but hospitals aren't doing this... why?  Perhaps it's down to the Feds paying a base rate over and above medicare/medicaid for every patient hospitalized with the Covid diagnosis?  I've seen "fact checkers" deny the veracity of this claim but my wife assures me that it IS TRUE.  On average, Covid patients rake in an additional 50 thousand dollars for the hospital.

[Silver]

On 12/1/2021 at 11:14 AM, ouija ouija said:

So in the rush to protect people from dying of covid we are condemning others to die from cancer(and other diseases, I'm sure).

It's not this exactly. Covid patients are filling beds and taking up time. I read an ICU doctor saying ICU beds are almost completely filled with Covid patients, 90% of whom are unvaccinated.

Ambulance crews can't leave people at home if they are struggling to breathe, and hospitals can't let them die in the corridors.And they take up doctors and nurses time caring for them. I think health care facilities all over the world are getting overwhelmed.

It doesn't help that we have these idiots like Piers Corbyn and Lawrence Fox thinking they are freedom fighters by refusing to follow the guidelines.

 

 

[Silver]

On 12/1/2021 at 8:24 PM, acidhead said:

Best healthcare system ever.. envy of the world!

I think the NHS is sort of middle ranking in Europe. I think all European healthcare is admired by people in the US, for example, where payment is required at point of delivery.

[+ouija ouija]

38 minutes ago, The Silver Shroud said:

It's not this exactly. Covid patients are filling beds and taking up time. I read an ICU doctor saying ICU beds are almost completely filled with Covid patients, 90% of whom are unvaccinated.

Ambulance crews can't leave people at home if they are struggling to breathe, and hospitals can't let them die in the corridors.And they take up doctors and nurses time caring for them. I think health care facilities all over the world are getting overwhelmed.

It doesn't help that we have these idiots like Piers Corbyn and Lawrence Fox thinking they are freedom fighters by refusing to follow the guidelines.

 

 

What happened to the hangar-style covid-only hospitals? Why aren't we using them? (please don't say it's because, since Brexit, we don't have enough staff to man them! )

[acute]

18 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

What happened to the hangar-style covid-only hospitals?

Only 2 of the Nightingale Hospitals admitted any patients, so they were decommissioned/ converted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_hospitals_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by acute

[Silver]

55 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

What happened to the hangar-style covid-only hospitals? Why aren't we using them? (please don't say it's because, since Brexit, we don't have enough staff to man them! )

They were not used, neither were the private hospital beds, although they were very generously funded. I really don't think it was Brexit related. The UK spends less on healthcare than comparable European countries so it is always understaffed. The pandemic was an excuse to channel tax-payers money into private hands. Matt Hancock has a lot of explaining to do. A lot of contracts were made via texts and WhatsApp's, and the mobile phones have mysteriously gone missing or have been wiped.

Private hospitals treated just eight Covid patients a day during pandemic – report | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Covid contracts: minister replaced phone before it could be searched | Health policy | The Guardian

Edited December 2, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[RAyMO]

1 hour ago, ouija ouija said:

What happened to the hangar-style covid-only hospitals? Why aren't we using them? (please don't say it's because, since Brexit, we don't have enough staff to man them! )

this was typical of this Boris Tory Government - all headlines no substance, and no behind the scenes thinking.  

yes they built the nightingales - but they attempted to staff them from within the existent staffing of the NHS, which was already understaffed. 

thus the nightingales were, predictably, unusable. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by RAyMO

[+and-then]

3 hours ago, The Silver Shroud said:

It's not this exactly. Covid patients are filling beds and taking up time.

Like in Florida, for example?  Or maybe NYC?  The truth is that currently the state with the least restrictive approach to COVID has the least cases and deaths.  NYC, with a MUCH more restrictive policy, is surging again.  I don't claim that there is a direct relationship because there can be many, many variables that help account for the numbers but at a minimum, one would want to research why the stricter policies seem to be NOT helping as much as the more lax approaches.

I went to Jacksonville Beach, Florida a couple of weeks ago and stayed for 6 days.  I'd say about 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 people I saw in public were masked and distancing.  They tended to be the age group that has always been most vulnerable.  This is a tourist town near the Georgia border, situated on the Atlantic coast.  I mention this due to the presence of a variety of non-locals being in that population.

[Silver]

4 hours ago, and then said:

  The truth is that currently the state with the least restrictive approach to COVID has the least cases and deaths.  NYC, with a MUCH more restrictive policy, is surging again..... 

I went to Jacksonville Beach, Florida a couple of weeks ago and stayed for 6 days.... 

NYC and Florida are compared a lot, from what I can see (I searched cf deaths from Covid). A lot of articles are behind paywalls, but this isn't:Florida Surpasses New York’s 2020 Peak With New Hospitalization Record (forbes.com)

The stats are used by anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, Covid deniers, and Fox News to make a political point.

There are a number of variables as you rightly say, one being pop. density I should think- NYC is pretty densely packed.

Another point is about anecdotal evidence- I have a in-law who died in his 30's unexpectedly (found dead sitting infront of his TV), he tested positive for Covid after death. A few people in work (I didn't know them personally) also died young and unexpectedly with Covid). Other than that I would have to say I have zero personal evidence Covid exists. 

I do believe, though, that the UK has had the worst death toll in Europe, and that our hospitals are struggling. I wear a mask in shops because I believe that helps stop transmission (helps, not stops) and it shows solidarity to people who are anxious about dying from Covid. I also don't think people who don't wear masks are braver, stronger, or more intelligent than the majority of us "sheeple".

Being brave, strong or clever doesn't stop people catching a contagious virus.

Edited December 3, 2021 by The Silver Shroud

[Eldorado]

Hundreds of private patients needed emergency transfer to NHS hospitals due to treatment complications

Some 518 patients in England needed emergency care that the independent hospitals and NHS Private Patient Units (PPUs) treating them were incapable of handling. There were 28 cases in Scotland and 27 in Wales, all from independent hospitals. A total of 577,800 people across the UK received private healthcare treatment during the 12 month period meaning around 1 in 1,000 patients needed an unplanned emergency transfer.

-- 

PHIN’s research also shows patients seeking private treatment at up to 350 UK hospitals may not have access to an independent complaints process if anything goes wrong – with around 80 per cent of those hospitals being NHS-run PPUs.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/hundreds-of-private-patients-needed-emergency-transfer-to-nhs-hospitals-due-to-treatment-complications/ar-AARDrgL?

[+and-then]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:10 PM, The Silver Shroud said:

Being brave, strong or clever doesn't stop people catching a contagious virus.

I never implied otherwise.  Still, the numbers for CFRs haven't changed significantly since the beginning.  People are going with the odds that if or when they contract this virus, they'll have a 98+ percent chance of surviving it.  Despite all of the hyperbolic media coverage, those numbers remain true.  So far, every new iteration of this virus has done what viruses DO.  They become more easily transmissible and less likely to kill their new host.

The cancer-backlog in the UK is just one of the other stressors caused by mishandling the virus.  The response is causing major damage unnecessarily, IMO.  But it has become politicized and therefore cannot be mended.  There was a recent case here where a 71-year-old visitor from Hong Kong acquired the virus, became ill enough to be hospitalized, was given Remdesivir and was in the ICU a couple of days later.  His family was told he had a 10-15% chance of survival

His daughter contacted a doctor that prescribed Ivermectin but the hospital refused to follow that instruction.  She took them to court, they refused the court order.  She went back to court, got an injunction and they STILL tried to avoid giving a dying man Ivermectin.  The judge started raising hell and they finally gave in and allowed the ivermectin to be administered.  THREE DAYS LATER he was off the Vent and about 2 weeks later he was home recovering.  This is anecdotal but the point is these hospitals are behaving irrationally regarding the use of therapeutic medications that have proven their worth all over the third world.  If this is about money, those making these decisions are due some seriously bad Karma.