Supporting patients and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 on health services, including cancer services, became apparent early on in the pandemic. Initially it was intelligence from people working on the ground that we had to go on, but now we have a range of data sources which provide further evidence of the situation. One such data source is for urgent suspected cancer referrals, and evidence from across the UK showed a sharp decline in those referrals, particularly in April. Over the months that have followed, the numbers of urgent cancer referrals started to improve, but the picture does look different for different routes, with suspected lung cancer referrals being particularly slow to recover which is a cause for concern.

There are a range of factors which impact how many referrals get made. As part of our response, CRUK have launched a second campaign using this short film (similar to the one for the June campaign) to encourage patients to contact their GP if they notice anything unusual. This campaign will run until the end of October 2020 via digital TV channels and Facebook. A health professional brief to go alongside the advert was also developed to support the campaign. We are aware that some of the UK nations are considering their own campaign plans to encourage people to come forward with symptoms, and we have been sharing our plans with national stakeholders to help ensure join up.

In conjunction with our ‘Encouraging presentation’ campaign, we are also highlighting lung cancer key messages with health professionals, particularly GPs, aiming to reinforce the importance of being alert to the risk of lung cancer in patients, with the added possibility of symptoms now being disguised by potential COVID-19 symptoms. Click here to read the one-pager.

Update: Early Diagnosis Virtual Event Series

You may know that we are not in a position to host our usual Early Diagnosis Research Conference, that was scheduled for January 2021. But in order to inform our plans of what to do instead, we sought input from members of our ED community. Thank you to everyone that completed our virtual conference survey in our June newsletter. We had over 60 responses which gave us some great insight into how we can ensure our virtual offer is innovative and engaging, and we are pleased to say that the planning is fully underway for a virtual series of events early in the new year. Watch out for more information in our next newsletter and via other channels.

If you have any questions in the meantime about the upcoming events then please contact one of the team.

Professor Sir Mike Richard’s Diagnostics Review

Professor Sir Mike Richards diagnostics review was published last week. This was a follow up from the independent screening review that was published in October 2019.

Professor Sir Mike Richards was commissioned by NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens to review diagnostic services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Recommendations include:

• Tests for emergency and elective diagnostics should be separate, to reduce hold-ups for patients
• CT scanning capacity should be doubled over the next five years to meet increasing demand and to match other developed countries
• Tests for heart and lung diseases need to be enhanced given the link to coronavirus
• More staff need to be trained to undertake screening colonoscopies
• The imaging workforce needs to be expanded as soon as possible with 2,000 additional radiologists and 4,000 radiographers as well as other support staff

If the recommendations are taken up, they should go a long way to ensuring there is diagnostic capacity to meet needs now and into the future. Government commitment to investing in this area is essential.

Early Detection and Diagnosis of Cancer: A Roadmap to the Future

This month we're excited to launch our landmark Early Detection and Diagnosis of Cancer Roadmap – aimed to unite the fragmented efforts of the early detection and diagnosis ecosystem and establish a coherent pathway for early detection and diagnosis in the UK. 

We consulted extensively with over 100 experts across the early detection and diagnosis landscape to create a roadmap which: 
• Articulates a shared vision, from discovery to implementation, for a long-term future where early detection and diagnosis of all cancers is routine reality. 
• Highlights the current challenges impeding progress. 
• Provides tangible recommendations for research, development, health system delivery and government policy on how to overcome these challenges and realise our shared vision. 

The importance of having enough of the right workforce in place, and diagnostic capacity more broadly, comes out loud and clear in the Roadmap report.

Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be working with colleagues across CRUK and the wider ED&D community to drive action and impact. Get in touch if you think you, or your organisation, could help.

And last but certainly not least we sadly say goodbye to Sara Hiom!

As some of you will know, Sara Hiom, Director of Cancer Intelligence, Early Diagnosis and Clinical Engagement at CRUK, has been instrumental in shaping and solidifying the Early Diagnosis agenda over the last 20 years and last week we were sad to say goodbye to her as she moves on to pastures new. Sara will be joining our previous CEO, Sir Harpal Kumar at ‘Grail Europe’ so still very much in cancer early diagnosis. Thank you to Sara for all that she has done at CRUK, and we will look forward to paths crossing in the future.