GP's alarm as people dodge doctors - and end up being diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in A&E

While health bosses have seen an overall resurgence after voicing their fears that people were shunning urgent medical advice because of the pandemic, they remain concerned about those with signs of lung cancer, including coughing and being constantly out of breath.

Dr Adam Janjua, who chairs a local cancer advisory group and is a GP at Fleetwood Surgery, said: "It is a difficult time for patients and GPs to assess and deal with respiratory symptoms. The national message is if you have a cough, stay at home and isolate yourself.

"However, not all coughing or breathing difficulty is caused by Covid-19. If someone has a cough or breathlessness that has gone on for three weeks, there is a risk of lung cancer. This is especially so for someone who is a smoker or has symptoms like coughing blood or losing weight."

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the country, with 50,000 new cases in the UK each year, and is more common in people living in the poorest areas, which includes swathes of Blackpool, and the elderly.

Despite better outcomes for those diagnosed early, lung cancer usually isn't spotted until it's at a late stage. As a result, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for one in five.

Delaying cancer treatment - whether it's surgical, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy - by just one month can lead to a six to 13 per cent higher risk of death, research published in the British Medical Journal last week suggested.

Tests and treatment continue across the Fylde coast, with video consultations and other new measures, including reviewing photographs of skin lesions, now being used. X-rays can still be arranged by GPs if lung cancer is suspected.

Dr Janjua added: "The NHS is still here for you. Early diagnosis of cancer saves lives. It is essential that people continue to talk about their concerns about cancer."

Dr Jodie Moffatt, head of early diagnosis at the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "Different cancers behave in different ways but for some, just a matter of weeks can be enough for the cancer to progress. This is why swift diagnosis and treatment of cancer is so important.

"Worryingly, the latest England cancer waiting time data for August shows that targets for patients beginning treatment within 62 days of an urgent cancer referral are still being missed.”

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, which runs the Victoria Hospital in Whinney Heys Road as well as the Clifton Hospital in St Annes, managed to hit its 62 day target in August, May, June, and July, though dozens of patients were still left waiting too long.

Those delays were blamed on a backlog for endoscopies, breast and bower cancer screening being halted, vacancies in the radiology department, and hold-ups in urology biopsies.

Macmillan Cancer Support estimated that as many as 50,000 people in the UK have cancer that has yet to be spotted because of disruption caused by Covid, though the NHS said the charity's findings are "flawed", adding: "Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, cancer treatments are actually back to pre-pandemic levels.

"The majority of people who have not been diagnosed are people who have not come forward for checks and so our message is clear - if you have worrying symptoms, you must get this checked. The NHS is ready and able to treat you."

While minor operations and appointments at Blackpool Victoria Hospital have been axed in recent weeks due to the high number of people with coronavirus being treated there, its medical director Dr Jim Gardner said he hoped to avoid scrapping more urgent ops, including for cancer.

"The very last people we would want to step down are the people who we think are at most risk, so they would be the high risk cancer patients and perhaps high risk cardiac patients," he said.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Cancer diagnosis and treatment has remained a priority throughout the pandemic – more than 200,000 people were treated for cancer during the first peak – and we urge people to come forward if they have symptoms.

“The NHS treated two non-Covid patients for every one Covid patient during the first wave of the pandemic and more than 870,000 people were referred for cancer checks between March and August.

“£3 billion has been allocated to the NHS to prepare for winter including funding for Nightingale hospital surge capacity and to upgrade A&E facilities so the NHS can continue to provide urgent care.”

If you need medical help from your GP, contact them online, by an app, or by phone to be assessed. For urgent help, use the online NHS 111 service or call 111. In a serious or life-threatening emergency, call 999. If you are told to go to hospital, it is important to go. You should continue to attend any medical appointments unless you are told not to.

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