Hundreds of 'missing' cancer diagnoses in Northamptonshire in 2020 – as fewer found at early stage

Hundreds fewer cancers were diagnosed in Northamptonshire in 2020, figures show – a year which also saw a fall in the proportion found at an early stage.

In the former NHS Northamptonshire CCG area, there were 3,670 cancers diagnosed in 2020 – 715 fewer than the year before, when there were 4,385 diagnoses, according to the latest figures from NHS Digital.

Of those that were diagnosed, breast cancer was the most common, accounting for 15.4 percent of diagnoses. This was followed by lung (12.4 percent) and prostate (12.2 percent) cancer.

The figures also show that alongside a drop in the number of cancers diagnosed in Northamptonshire, the proportion found at an early stage also fell – 49.9 percent of cancers with a valid stage were diagnosed early in 2020, down from 54.2 percent in 2019.

Across England, there were roughly 40,400 fewer cancers diagnosed in 2020, while the early diagnosis rate also tumbled to 51.9 percent, from 54.5 percent in 2019.

A fall in the national early diagnosis rate in 2020 followed two years of improvement – though the figure is yet to return to the high of 54.6 percent seen in 2014.

Jon Shelton head of cancer intelligence at Cancer Research UK said: “We have been sounding the alarm on the importance of early diagnosis for years.

"Right now, the Government is falling short of its manifesto promise of improving cancer outcomes in the UK and significantly improving cancers diagnosed at their earliest stage.

"We need Steve Barclay to step up and commit to a comprehensive and fully funded 10-year cancer plan which transforms our cancer services from world-lagging to world-leading."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said that 160 community diagnostic centres are being rolled out in a bid to tackle the backlogs caused by the pandemic.

"These one-stop shops have already delivered over 2.7 million life-saving tests, checks and scans," they added.

“We continue to do all we can to fight cancer and we recently announced a new partnership with BioNTech to boost research into vaccines for cancer with the potential to transform outcomes for cancer patients.”

In July 2022, clinical commissioning groups were abolished and replaced with integrated care boards across England.