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Pandemic May Have Hurt U.K. Urgent Cancer Care, Survey Suggests
- Referrals fell 75% in some areas at pandemic peak: report
- Backlog could persist for up to 2 years: Cancer Research UK
Photographer: Hannah McKay/Reuters/Bloomberg
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U.K. patients with suspected cancers are being turned down more frequently for urgent appointments to see specialists and confirm their diagnosis since the pandemic started, according to a survey of doctors.
About a quarter of GPs surveyed said hospitals had inappropriately refused referrals more often during the Covid-19 outbreak, according to a report from non-profit Cancer Research UK. This was probably the result of a lack of capacity and reduced access to diagnostic tests within hospitals, as well as a possible attempt to reduce patients’ exposure to Covid-19, it said.