Urgent call for action as NHS struggles threaten cancer patients

Health ombudsman highlights risks amid staff shortages and record waiting times

An overstretched, understaffed health service with exhausted workers under 'unsustainable pressure' is putting cancer patients at risk. PA

In an urgent warning issued by England's health ombudsman, the current strain on the National Health Service (NHS) due to overstretching, understaffing and worker exhaustion is significantly endangering cancer patient care.

The call for immediate government action highlights the critical need for measures to prioritise patient safety.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has conducted 1,019 investigations related to cancer complaints from April 2020 to December 2023, with 185 cases being upheld or partly upheld.

The investigations frequently pointed to treatment delays and misdiagnosis, particularly concerning lung, breast and colorectal cancers, alongside issues in communication, referrals and end-of-life care.

Rob Behrens, the health ombudsman, stressed the imperative of safe and effective care.

“But patient safety will always be at risk in environments that are understaffed and where staff are exhausted and under unsustainable pressure,” he said.

He called for “concerted and sustained action from the government” to ensure that NHS leaders can focus on safeguarding patients.

This situation is further reflected in NHS England's data, which shows that only 74.2 per cent of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer in December 2023 received a diagnosis or had cancer ruled out within 28 days, failing to meet the 75 per cent target.

BBC's analysis last month revealed that cancer waiting times in England were the worst on record last year, with nearly 100,000 patients waiting longer than the recommended 62 days to begin treatment.

Highlighting the human impact of these failures, the story of John Eastwood and his late wife, Sandra, is a poignant example.

Ms Eastwood was initially misdiagnosed and inadequately treated for a rare gastrointestinal stromal tumour, leading to a terminal cancer diagnosis and her eventual death four months later.

Mr Eastwood expressed his disillusionment with the care provided, underscoring the lack of effective communication and timely diagnosis.

“I feel absolutely disgusted with the ‘care’ she received from the hospital,” he said.

“They didn’t investigate the scan results and just put it down to Warfarin straight away.

“It seemed like the medical teams did not communicate with each other and everything felt very disjointed.

“They left her in agony for months before she died.”

The PHSO concluded that the misinterpretation of Ms Eastwood's scans and the delayed review by a multidisciplinary team significantly contributed to the missed opportunity for effective treatment.

“What happened to Ms Eastwood was unacceptable and her family’s grief will no doubt have been compounded by knowing that mistakes were made in her care,” Mr Behrens said.

“Her case also shows, in the most tragic of ways, that while some progress has been made on my recommendations to improve imaging services, it is not enough and more must be done.

“Government must act now to prioritise this issue and protect more patients from harm.”

The NHS through the decades – in pictures

The first babies born on July 5, 1948, the day the NHS was launched in the UK. Getty Images

People take part in a doorstep survey about the need for a National Health Service in 1944. Getty Images

The sorting of ballot papers in the British Medical Association to ascertain doctors' views on joining the National Health Service scheme, in April 1948. Getty Images

Minister for health Aneurin Bevan watches a demonstration of a new stretcher in Preston, on the first day of the new National Health Service. Getty Images

Mr Bevan's visit to Park Hospital, Manchester, now named Trafford General Hospital, on July 5, 1948. PA

Nurses of Whipps Cross Hospital, in London, singing Christmas carols to one of the patients in bed in 1952. Getty Images

NHS patients queuing in the rain outside a mobile X-ray unit parked in a street in New Cross, London in 1954. Getty Images

Some of the 8,000 nurses attending a protest meeting at Trafalgar Square, London, in support of their pay claim in 1952. Getty Images

A nurse in the operating theatre of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, in 1968. Getty Images

Nurses demonstrating outside the Ministry of Health, London, in 1974. Getty Images

Demonstrators protesting in London against proposed NHS funding cuts in 1984. Getty Images

A busy Friday night in the A&E section of the Royal London Hospital in 1998. Getty Images

Unison members protest in front of the British Parliament to protest against conditions which will turn the NHS into a two-tier system in 2003. Getty Images

Work during the construction of Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in 2007. Getty Images

Performers dance in a scene in tribute of the NHS during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Getty Images

NHS workers take part in an anti-austerity protest during the first day of the 2015 Conservative Party Autumn Conference in Manchester. Getty Images

Doctors treat a baby, receiving light therapy, inside an incubator in the Birmingham Women's Hospital in 2015. Getty Images

Nurses in uniforms from each decade of the NHS celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS in 2018. Getty Images

A nurse enters the Covid-19 Red Zone at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Wales in 2020. Getty Images

NHS staff applaud at the entrance of the Royal Liverpool Hospital as part of the "Clap For Our Carers" campaign in April 2020. Getty Images

A nurse takes a swab at a Covid-19 drive-through testing station for NHS staff in Chessington in 2020. Getty Images

A sign of support for the NHS during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 in Glasgow. Getty Images

Domestic caretaker Jim Johnson outside Blackpool Victoria Hospital during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Getty Images

NHS staff members gather outside the University Hospital of North Tees to show their respects and applaud Captain Sir Tom Moore. Getty Images

NHS staff and key workers queue in the Louisa Jordan Hospital before receiving the coronavirus vaccine in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Getty Images

NHS staff administer the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in 2021 in St Helens. Getty Images

An ambulance paramedic speaks as NHS workers and supporters gather outside Downing Street during strike action in 2022. Getty Images

Demonstrators, holding placards and banners, during a strike by NHS nursing staff outside St. Thomas' Hospital in London, in 2022. Getty Images

Ambulance workers on a picket line during strike action at Chorley Ambulance Station in 2023. Bloomberg

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is given a demonstration of CPR while visiting the NHS's Addenbrooke's Hospital in 2023. Getty Images

In response to the ombudsman's findings, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged the shortcomings in Ms Eastwood's care and pledged to enact practice changes.

Meanwhile, Sir Julian Hartley of NHS Providers emphasised the dire consequences of resource limitations on patient care, advocating substantial, long-term solutions, including fully funding the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

“At a time when demand for services has never been higher, the NHS is grappling with over 110,000 staff shortages,” said Sir Julian.

“Trust leaders are doing all they can to ensure timely, high-quality care for patients, their number one priority, but their efforts need to be backed nationally.

“The patient ramifications of pared-back staff and outdated equipment and IT systems must not be sidelined.”

Breast Cancer Now also called for immediate action to address the crisis in cancer care, with chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan highlighting the disastrous brink on which breast cancer care teeters.

“This worrying report is yet another warning to the Government of the consequences of failing to tackle the crisis facing cancer care in England,” she said.

“Breast cancer care is on the brink of disaster, with breast screening uptake in England tragically falling short of targets, and long waiting times preventing many women from starting potentially life-saving treatment on time.”