Hexham Courant readers have had their say on cancer patients being told about a backlog of cancer treatments.

This fear follows from a new report that has suggested it could take over a decade to clear the cancer treatment backlog in England.

As the pandemic has been regular health screening on hold, Press Association has reported an estimated 19,500 people have not been diagnosed with cancer that should have been due to missed referrals. This figure comes from the Institute for Public Policy Research and the CF health consultancy.

The study suggested that even if “stretched” hospitals could cater for 5% more procedures before the pandemic, it would still take until 2033 to clear the cancer treatment “missing patients backlog”.

Here is what the readers had to say:

 

Paul Cross said: "The NHS was on its last legs before the pandemic let alone now. Utterly shocking what's happened to cancer care."

 

Jennie Wright agrees and said: "This is so sad and wrong While weve been counting covid deaths and trying to avoid them weve likely caused far more deaths to other causes."

 

Bridget Bell agrees with the other comments and adds "Disgraceful."