ARE YOU THE 1 IN 4?

NHS waiting times for cancer care in England are now the longest on record

- VERONIQUE HAWKSWORTH, BESS BROWNING

The NHS was already under pressure when COVID-19 tore through our hospitals in March 2020. But while the pandemic might be easing off, its ripple effect on NHS services is far from resolved.

Cancer care is one of the worst hit. After an initial drop in screenings, now tens of thousands of cancer patients are waiting longer than ever to see a specialist, receive a diagnosis or start treatment.

In January of this year, one in four patients suspected of having cancer were not seen within the urgent referral time of two weeks and some people waited longer than a month to start receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or to undergo surgery*.

With one in two of us being affected by cancer in our lifetime**, cancer services are imperative to us all. Woman’s Own speaks to two charities calling for change and a patient who has dealt with the delays first-hand.

‘The dread was overwhelming’

Sunita Thind, 39, lives in Derby with her husband Peter, 46.

As I sat in the hospital waiting room in March 2020, I felt sick. Having recovered from ovarian cancer in 2016, I was used to the doctors, the appointments and tests – it was the waiting I hated.

Cancer had already had such an impact on my life. I’d been a school teacher and a model but the cancer had turned me into a version of myself I barely recognised. Worst of all, it was lessening my chances of becoming a mother, something I wanted desperately.

AGONISING DELAY