Doctors have warned that many cancer patients nowadays are not receiving vital care as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The highest for continuing treatment, such as those patients in category one and two priority are not receiving chemotherapy, leading oncologists said.
Inconsistent guidelines
NHS has put on hold those non-urgent cases so that hospital could focus on combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, NHS England guidance also said that cancer services should continue to deliver care despite the current crisis.
However, NHS also calls for "local solutions to continue the proper management of these cancer services while protecting resources for the response to coronavirus."
This advice from NHS England is considered sensible by "implemented inconsistently" around the country, according to the chief medical officer at Rutherford Health, Professor Karol Sikora.
The inconsistency of its implementation has caused problems among cancer patients. People getting chemotherapy have now had it stopped even though they are the highest priority patients under category one and two patients.
More importantly, patients with curable cancer still get treatment. Currently, the private sector is already in talks with NHS England and providers to make available an increased capacity for NHS patients, Sikora said.
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Delayed treatments and surgery for cancer patients
Sikora also mentioned having a friend that works in gastroenterology who got an email from a nurse saying "not to bother coming in" because his treatment will be stopped for the duration of the crisis. It is very hard for the patients; everything is uncertain.
There was a looming threat that cancer centers would close, and all staff would go to the new Nightingale hospitals, built specifically to cater to COVID-19 infected patients from overstretched NHS facilities. Although the chance of that happening right now is slim, it would still be sad if that would happen.
Coronavirus is having devastating effects on the delivery of normal health care since it has become difficult, and everything is put on hold or delayed, said Angus George Dalgleish, a professor of oncology at St. George's University of London.
It is still uncertain if this pandemic will cause more indirect deaths because of patients not getting care, Dalgleish added. Like when St George's having nine wards full of coronavirus patients, which could mean that it could severely impact care of everyone else.
Laura Lee, the chief executive of Maggie's, which is a cancer charity, calls out for the government to make specific guidelines -as what they did when COVID-19 affected businesses and employment- because anxieties among patients have worsened due to the current situation. In a sense, the dilemma we suffer from COVID-19 is not just for coronavirus patients.
Also Read: Scientists Discover 'Chronic' Mutation of Coronavirus in a Patient Who Was Contagious for 49 Days!
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