Cancer patients will not receive vital treatment during coronavirus crisis, warn doctors in letter to Matt Hancock urging him to free up space for NHS patients in private clinics
- EXCLUSIVE: Oncologists have sounded the alarm bell about reduced capacity
- They point to reduced capacity for proton beam therapy because of the virus
- They have urged Matt Hancock to link up with the private sector to up capacity
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Matt Hancock has come under pressure from doctors to increase cancer treatment capacity, which is creaking as resources are diverted to the coronavirus front line.
Six oncologists have sounded the alarm bell over NHS guidance which warns of a ‘significant impact’ on cancer treatments, with younger patients requiring specialist care hit hardest.
The medics single out patients requiring cutting-edge proton beam therapy as particularly vulnerable to having treatment cancelled because of the spike in demand for ventilators and anaesthetists during the epidemic.
To stop these patients receiving ‘sub-optimal conventional treatment’, the doctors urged the Health Secretary to link up with the private sector to swell capacity.
Outlining their concerns in a letter, they write: ‘In our view, there is a real risk that patients who need proton beam therapy will be denied that treatment and given sub-optimal conventional treatment which was not theirs nor their clinician’s first choice thus potentially increasing unwanted late toxicities and affecting their quality of life in the long term.
‘Furthermore, parents of children with cancer requiring proton therapy will hope that the Covid-19 situation should not compromise the long-term cure and quality of life for their children.’
The first signatory on the letter was Professor Karol Sikora, chief medical officer at Rutherford Health plc and non-executive director at Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, Stoke Mandeville, Amersham and High Wycombe Hospitals.
Pointing to the independent sector as a possible answer, he told MailOnline: ‘The NHS is under huge pressure and the independent sector stands ready to help.
‘There is capacity available now to treat patients who are due proton beam therapy and it’s important for all cancer patients that disruption is minimised.’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock (speaking at a Downing Street press briefing last week) has come under pressure from doctors to safeguard cancer treatment which is coming under strain as resources are diverted to the coronavirus epidemic
The Rutherford Cancer Centre North East, in Bedlington, Northumberland which offers proton beam therapy
PBT involves firing radiation directly at the tumour and reduces the side effects sometimes experienced by the less precise radiotherapy, which damages healthy tissue surrounding the cancerous cells.
However most people are not offered the treatment as it is more expensive and only provided by one NHS Trust, Christie Hospital in Manchester.
This already limited capacity faces being stretched even more because the equipment needed to perform such treatment is also required on coronavirus wards, namely ventilators.
In their letter, the six doctors point to NHS England guidance which states: ‘Under normal circumstances, the centre at The Christie does not have sufficient capacity to meet all NHS demand for PBT.
‘This position has been exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19. In addition, a significant proportion of paediatric patients need to be anaesthetised on a daily basis to receive PBT treatment.’
Matt Hancock speaks via videolink at the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham
The guidance, published on April 3, also predicts the reduced capacity of PBT will directly increase the load on conventional radiotherapy because it has to cope with more patients.
It states: ‘The demands of the Covid-19 outbreak on the NHS mean there is increased pressure on both the anaesthetists and ventilator equipment required to carry out this element of PBT treatment.
‘Reduced PBT capacity will impact significantly on conventional radiotherapy services as an alternative form of radiation treatment.
‘This is expected to be particularly marked in paediatric and teenage and young people radiotherapy.’
To widen the capacity of PBT, the six doctors urge the Health Secretary to work with independent providers, namely the three Rutherford Centres which specialise in such treatment.
They write: ‘We therefore ask that a decision is taken urgently to update the NHSE guidance to reflect the fact that additional capacity is available immediately through the independent sector and should be utilised to meet clinical need from across the UK.’
The other oncologists to sign the letter are Professor Roger Taylor, Dr Shanmugasundaram Ramkumar, Dr Hans van der Voet, Mr Matt Clarke and Dr Andrew Gaya.
The Department of Health did not immediately respond to MailOnline’s request to comment.