A CANCER survivor says people could die because of the sharp drop in the number of diagnostic scans being carried out by the NHS in Worcestershire during the Covid pandemic.

Figures for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust show that between April and September this year, 139,895 scans were carried out, compared to 206,015 in the same period in 2019 – that's 66,120 fewer scans, a drop of 32.09 per cent.

The scans are not just for suspected cancer but other serious conditions such as heart disease, where an early diagnosis is often vital for survival.

Barbara Moss, 66, from Worcester, was diagnosed with late-stage bowel cancer in 2006 and given just months to live. The health campaigner said the drop in scans was "simply not acceptable".

Mrs Moss added: "More people will die from cancer than of Covid-19 as scanning saves lives by detecting diseases early for treatment to start.

“For example, cancer diagnosed at stage one has a 95 per cent survival rate, so catching it early is key.”

The data revealed that, between April and September 2019, 103 NHS trusts in England carried out a total of 13.5 million scans of all types, including MRI, CT scans and ultrasounds used to diagnose cancer.

But in the same time period in 2020, just 9.1 million scans were carried out. This marks a 4.4 million drop, or 33 per cent.

The BBC Shared Data Unit published the figures.

Dr William Ramsden, VP of the clinical radiology faculty for the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), commented on the significant reduction in scans.

“I think the main problem was that the routine work was cancelled," he said.

"We were all asked to concentrate on the Covid work, quite naturally. Thus, we stopped getting so many referrals and there was less work coming through than would normally be expected.

“I work in a big children’s hospital - we obviously saw urgent cases and people that were really poorly, but that normal work just didn’t come.

“Some of our people were redeployed - generally the trainees rather than the established practitioners. Also, there were things like self-isolation I had to isolate for two weeks when a family member had a cough.

“It would have affected different parts of the country to various degrees - some more than others.”

“I think it’s partly related because I think we all pretty much laboured under the same rules in lockdown. We all were asked to pause routine work, but when you think about it some places had a much harder time during the first wave.

“You have to bear in mind diagnostics and radiology had a pretty tough workforce problem before the pandemic. Some places were pretty short of staff and they were likely to be impacted pretty hard when things got tough.

“I think people have done heroically if I’m honest - people have gone the extra mile. However, the stress in the system and the previous issues have made us accumulate a backlog. I just hope we can get over that as soon as we can.”

Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “As a Trust we have followed national and specialty guidance about what tests and other procedures should and should not be carried out in an NHS hospital setting during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In this context, we have made a huge effort to ensure that where possible patients in the most urgent need of treatment, including cancer patients, continue to receive the care they need, by transferring services to our other sites and through a partnership with our local private providers. 

“For large numbers of patients this means they have had the tests and treatment they needed, when they needed them, in as safe a setting as possible.

“We recognise that this is an anxious time for patients who may be awaiting diagnostic tests. We are focussed on accelerating the return of as many non-Covid services as possible, whilst keeping our hospitals safe for our staff, patients and visitors.”