Cancer patients are 'refusing' to go to Northampton General Hospital during lockdown, report reveals

Dozens of cancer patients have "refused" to go to critical appointments at Northampton General Hospital under the coronavirus lockdown.

In the weeks after a patient is first suspected of having cancer, NHS guidelines say it is crucial that they are diagnosed and start treatments in 62 days.

But papers have revealed how Northampton General has been faced with hundreds of patients "refusing" to go to hospital in April and May under the lockdown.

As of May 28, the hospital has more than 170 patients who have not been seen within the 62-day target - and many of them have not even been officially diagnosed.

It means potential cancer patients who could be diagnosed in the first stage of their illness are not being seen until later when the disease has progressed.

The figures come from a report from the board of directors published by NGH on May 28.

In a statement, NGH's deputy chief executive Deborah Needham said: “We know that some of our patients may have felt worried about coming into hospital, but we want to reassure people that we are here for them and that our teams are still providing care to patients.

"Our teams at NGH have worked tirelessly throughout COVID-19 to ensure that patient safety remains at the heart of everything we do.

"We would urge people to please still attend their appointments where they can. Our teams are working in line with national guidance to keep patients safe and are here to support them when coming for an appointment at the hospital”.

Another way the pandemic has impacted cancer treatments is that is has forced the hospital to put hundreds of patient's tests and diagnostic procedures to be put on hold.

As of May 28, 468 patients on the hospital's patient tracking list (PTL) whose treatments and diagnoses have had to be paused because of problems caused by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the number of two-week-wait referrals - a system to urgently refer potential cancer patients to hospital within two weeks of seeing a doctor - plummeted from 350 at the beginning of March to less than 70 in April.