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Admissions of patients with “nonspecific cardiac chest pain,” an alert condition that can indicate a heart attack, decreased by 41 percent, while those of patients with a specific heart attack diagnosis decreased by 27 percent. .
Meanwhile, those to diagnose or treat gastrointestinal disorders were reduced by 90 percent.
Earlier this month, NHS chiefs launched a campaign – Help Us Help You – assuring patients that they will not be seen as a burden if they seek help for non-Covid-related ailments due to concerns about the effects of government advice on “Protect the NHS.”
Experts have said that poor access to diagnosis and care during the pandemic could lead to an additional 35,000 deaths from cancer this year.
Last week, the Quality of Care Commission said millions of patients had missed their GP appointments since the closure, which means fewer referrals to the hospital for vital checks.
In total, between March and August of this year, almost 27 million visits with GPs were carried out less than in the same period last year.
Kruti Shrotri, Policy Manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “These figures provide further evidence of the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on the diagnosis and treatment of patients.
“As healthcare services now have to handle a Covid-19 resurgence in addition to the usual pressures of winter, it is critical that we advance the lessons learned thus far to ensure cancer patients receive the care they need through a second wave of the virus. “
The number of patients who started cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiology, between April and July is 26 percent lower than in the same period last year, and about 31,000 patients were lost, the charity said.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation and consulting cardiologist, said: “We are sadly seeing the consequences of people not receiving cardiovascular care during this pandemic, with thousands of excess deaths caused by it. conditions.
“It is vital that people are able to access health care as they normally would.”
The data shows more than 4,400 additional deaths from heart disease and stroke in Britain during the first four months of the pandemic.
Karen Stalbow, from Prostate Cancer UK, said that while most localized prostate cancers grow slowly, it was critical that the most urgent cases did not have to endure more waiting.
She said: “Some men simply cannot afford to wait, and as we enter the second wave of the pandemic, it is vital that hospitals can continue to provide treatment for those at increased risk of cancer progression.”
Tom Binstead, director of strategy and analysis at Dr Foster, said that some of the numbers were “staggering” with drops being seen “across the board,” including almost all emergency activities except delivery.
He said: “Overall, the analysis suggests that the long-term effects of the pandemic are likely to be far-reaching, with a future increase in demand possible due to missed diagnoses and postponed procedures.
“Cancers may now require a higher level of treatment, or even be untreatable, if they have not been detected or treated as a result of the crisis.”
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘At the height of the coronavirus’ first peak and shutdown, some people chose to postpone care, but hospital admissions have since recovered, routine operations have more than doubled and anti-virus treatments have since recovered. cancer are now taking place well above the usual levels. The message from the NHS to the public has been quite clear: don’t delay, help us help you by introducing yourself so you can get the care you need. “
