Hundreds of 'missing' cancer diagnoses in Nottinghamshire in 2020 – as fewer found at early stage

Cancer Research UK has urged the Government to improve outcomes for people with cancer and take services in England from being “world-lagging to world-leading”.

In the former NHS Nottinghamshire clinical commissioning group area, there were 5,368 cancers diagnosed in 2020 – 644 fewer than the year before, when there were 6,012 diagnoses, according to the latest figures from NHS Digital.

Of those that were diagnosed, breast cancer was the most common, accounting for 14 per cent of diagnoses. This was followed by lung, 13.2 per cent, and prostate, 10.7 per cent, cancers.

The figures also show that alongside a drop in the number of cancers diagnosed in Nottinghamshire, the proportion found at an early stage also fell – 49.4 per cent of cancers with a valid stage were diagnosed early in 2020, down from 51.4 per cent in 2019.

Dr Thilan Bartholomeuz, a GP at Blidworth Surgery and clinical director for the Targeted Lung Health Check programme in Mansfield and Ashfield, said: “The figures showing the number of cancers diagnosed and those diagnosed early has significantly improved since 2020 and is now actually better than pre-Covid levels.

“Early diagnosis of cancer makes it easier to treat, so I encourage people to respond to national cancer screening invites for bowel, breast and cervical cancer.

“We have also been running our NHS Targeted Lung Health Check programme in Mansfield and Ashfield since April 2021, which is targeted at people aged 55-74 with a smoking history.

“Since then, we have achieved a 59 per cent earlier diagnosis rate and 73 per cent of the lung cancers diagnosed were caught early enough to be treatable, which is an excellent outcome for those people.”

Across England, there were roughly 40,400 fewer cancers diagnosed in 2020, while the early diagnosis rate also tumbled to 51.9 per cent, from 54.5 per cent in 2019.

Jon Shelton, head of cancer intelligence at Cancer Research UK, said the coronavirus pandemic caused huge disruption to cancer care, but added a “crisis” facing cancer services was accelerated rather than caused by it.

He said: “We have been sounding the alarm on the importance of early diagnosis for years.

“Right now, the Government is falling short of its manifesto promise of improving cancer outcomes in the UK and significantly improving cancers diagnosed at their earliest stage.

“We need Health Secretary Steve Barclay to step up and commit to a comprehensive and fully funded 10-year cancer plan which transforms our cancer services from world-lagging to world-leading.”

A fall in the national early diagnosis rate in 2020 followed two years of improvement – though the figure is yet to return to the high of 54.6 per cent seen in 2014.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said the department is “laser-focused” on tackling cancer waiting lists across England, adding that 160 community diagnostic centres are being rolled out in a bid to tackle the backlogs caused by the pandemic.